Road Trip
by ermintrude421
Summary: Amanda and Lee drive the Vigilant from DC to Yuma, Arizona. Immediately after Magic Bus. Updated with new material, but the basic story remains the same.
1. Chapter 1

*DISCLAIMER** Scarecrow & Mrs. King is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and ShootThe Moon Production Company. The original portions of this story, however, arecopyrighted to the author. This story is for entertainment purposes only andcannot be redistributed without the permission of the author. If you want to put it on your site, please email me. No infringement of copyright is intended.

This version is updated and additional portions have been added at the beginning and the end. They came from writing Billy's Case Files, and are Billy's views and actions to make the trip come about. These are not strictly based upon canon—which is why they are included in Road Trip and not Billy's Case Files. And I loved writing Sikes' report. He's a fun character, and his viewpoint helped highlight the Lee-Amanda dynamic as it presented itself to the rest of the world.

I've read a lot of SMK fanfic, but I have yet to come across the story of driving the Vigilant to Arizona. Maybe because it's First Season and has little potential for romance. But there is a story wanting to be written, so I have done it.

The restaurants described are taken from my own various road trips during my life and have all actually existed as described, at one time or another. I've also driven many of these roads myself: I40 across Tennessee, I40 from Albuquerque to Flagstaff and I17 from Flagstaff to Phoenix. They're all great scenic drives. I don't know which were finished or not in 1983, and I really don't care. We'll just suspend disbelief and pretend they existed then as they do now.

I will say I had a great deal of fun tormenting Lee. But because of the way he treated Amanda at the beginning (this is right after episode 4 remember) he richly deserves it. I think of this as Lee's second big foray into "normal" life. Betsy Ross Estates being the first.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I declare, these people sure have minds of their own, and this is somewhat different than I had originally envisioned, but then these people just start doing their thing, and all I can do is record their actions.

Timeline, Immediately post Magic Bus. (You have to stretch things a week, though otherwise it stays in canon.)

PG for language.

'indicates thoughts'

Road Trip

by Ermintrude

Immediately after Magic Bus

Late Sunday morning, Billy was in his office, clearing up the paperwork from the Survivalist's case. 'How they found out about the Vigilant… We've got to be more rigorous about background checks for congressional staff. Holt shouldn't have gotten through.'

His phone rang, and Billy answered, "Melrose here." He listened to the Army General on the other end of the line. He agreed and murmured positively in all the right places. 'Best to humor these three-star types. They're used to ordering everyone around and getting them to make things happen.'

"That's an excellent idea, sir. I'll get right on it and report back. Good bye, sir." He hung up and thought for a moment. 'The Army Brass want Amanda King to drive the Vigilant to Arizona and for the tests at the Yuma proving grounds.' He shook his head. 'That woman is full of surprises. She'll be pleased, a full week of work with overtime plus mileage and the possibility of a bonus at the end. On second thought, I'll leave the bonus out of it. It might make her nervous. She'll want to keep in touch with her family, and she can call home in the evenings. That should make her happy. But I need her to agree to go on the trip, so whatever it takes, she'll get it.'

Billy gathered his papers and thought further. 'Scarecrow will be another matter entirely.' He sighed and paused. 'He'll be upset he won't be going in solo, and then to find out he has to go in with Amanda King driving the Vigilant… He'll be irate because he was shot, and he'll probably try to get out of it any way he can. Well, he can't. They want both of them. Just like this morning. I sure would have liked to see them in action. I got there just at the end. But the soldiers said they got the best of them, and amazingly, nobody was hurt, except for Lee getting shot.'

Billy checked his papers and made a call to the hospital where Lee was getting patched up. 'He'll be there for a couple hours more at least. Good. I'll call Mrs. King and get her to agree to the trip, then spring it on Scarecrow in person. He'll be unhappy, but if I make it an order and imply he can't handle the assignment anymore… He'll agree, with bad grace.' Billy chuckled to himself. 'Sometimes, I have to be a psychiatrist to get my people to do their jobs. Why can't they just take their assignments? Why do they always have to comment or try to get out of the less glamorous stuff? It's not like I create the assignments or decide what needs to be done. I just asses the situation, and make the best of things with the people I have. And right now, the people I need are Lee Stetson and Amanda King.'

He picked up the phone to dial Amanda's home number. 'Maybe I can be out there at Yuma for the test Friday afternoon. I'd like to see those two in action. Oh to be a fly on the wall for the week in that RV…' He laughed out loud as he imagined poor Scarecrow trapped in an RV for a week with the irrepressibly cheerful and enthusiastic Mrs. King. 'She'll drive him crazy! Hopefully she'll be able to put up with him, because he surely will be in a foul mood all week. But if anyone can put up with him, she can. After her week running interference for him while he was in the hospital for his annual physical—twice!—she managed to keep him calm and cooperative and the hospital people were very grateful for her presence. Hopefully Lee won't see the notation in his medical file that her presence as a buffer is a requirement if he's ever in that hospital for his physical again.'

He dialed the familiar number, "Good afternoon, Mrs. King," Billy began his conversation with Scarecrow's partner.

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"Hello, I'm home!" Amanda announced as she returned from her "weekend retreat" with the Survivors.

She was answered with resounding silence.

'Well, they must be out enjoying their weekend. I didn't expect to be home so early,' she thought to herself.

She brought her bag up to her room and unpacked. Then she checked the general laundry situation and started a load. The house was relatively clean, the dishes all done, so she sat and read her latest romance novel while she waited for the laundry.

As she was loading the washer for the third time, the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, Mrs. King." It was her boss at the Agency, Billy Melrose.

"Good afternoon, sir. Is anything wrong?"

"No Amanda, nothing is wrong. In fact, we're all quite pleased with your work this weekend."

"Thank you, sir."

"Especially your driving skills with the Vigilant."

She blushed. "Oh well—I just did what I had to."

"The Army personnel were very impressed with your ability to outmaneuver them."

"Oh."

"They were so impressed, they have requested your help driving the Vigilant to Arizona. And they also want you to drive it during the test at the Yuma proving grounds."

Amanda was shocked, "Sir! I thought Lee was going to do that?"

"That was the original plan. But with that bullet wound in his right leg and your driving display, the Agency has decided to change the plan. If you're available, you and Lee will drive the RV to Arizona and you will drive and Scarecrow will attack during the test at the proving grounds. Just like you did earlier today in the woods."

"Wow, that's a long drive…"

"We're planning on taking a week—four full days of driving with a short drive to the proving grounds and the test on Friday afternoon. You'd leave tomorrow morning, and be home Friday evening."

"A whole week away…"

"The Agency will pay you for the entire week you're away, all expenses will be covered—food, motels and incidentals—and we'll fly you back Friday evening."

"Will I be able to call home every night? It helps if I can talk to everyone here."

"Of course. You'll have your own motel room and you can call whomever you like. Plus, you and Scarecrow will have Army escorts—three cars with six troopers to keep an eye on the Vigilant. Not that you'll need it. We're flying the decoy out west. All the attention will be there. You'll be just another RV on the road."

"A whole week?"

"You'll get overtime and mileage, in addition to your usual pay."

"Wow! That extra money sure will help—and Christmas is coming… I'll do it, sir!"

"Good. The Army—and the Agency—will be pleased. We'll be by at 6am tomorrow with the RV. You'll leave then. Can you manage that?"

"6am, that's early." She thought a moment. "Sure, sir. But I have to get busy if I'm gonna be ready then."

"All right. Lee and the Captain will be by at 6am tomorrow. You be ready then."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir. I'm really glad I can help like this."

"Good bye, Amanda."

"Good bye, sir."

She stood at the island in her kitchen thinking. 'Gosh, a whole week's pay with mileage and overtime. Wow! That should really help pay for Christmas. The boys have their lists started already—over two months ahead of time. Maybe I can get them some of those new video games they want so badly. That Atari game player is pretty expensive—but with the extra pay, I might be able to get one.' She sighed. 'And then there's the prospect of a whole week with Lee. Maybe I can get him to tell me a thing or two about himself. A week in an RV is pretty long—he'll have to talk to me about something in all that time.' She smiled to herself. Then she moved quickly. 'Have to finish the laundry, and then pack for a week. Maybe I can make cookies for the trip. Three cars and the RV—and we'll need a lunch for the first day at least…'

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At the hospital, Lee was finishing up with the doctors. He was in a bad mood. Amanda had been debriefed and gone home hours ago. Billy was with him and had commented—several times—how impressed he and the Army brass were with Amanda's driving skills.

Billy was feeling pleased. "You two make a really great team—Amanda driving and you attacking. The Army brass want to keep you two together for the test in Arizona."

"What?" Lee was taken aback. "I was supposed to go in solo!"

"They've changed their minds. It will be operated by a team in the field anyhow. And they were highly impressed it's built so an ordinary housewife can drive it with no special training."

Lee was desperate. "Billy, why not get another agent? I bet Francine…"

Billy cut him off. "No—the brass specifically asked for Mrs. King. Besides, as a civilian auxiliary she costs less than a field agent and as the Army is paying for this junket, they want to keep expenses down."

Lee ran his hand through his hair. "So what, she'll meet us out there?"

"No, she will drive the Vigilant from DC to the Yuma proving grounds. You will accompany her and familiarize yourself with the operation of the Vigilant's offensive systems. Then Friday afternoon, Amanda will drive the Vigilant into their mockup town and you will attack."

"Billy! You mean I have to be cooped up for a whole week in the RV with Amanda King?"

"It won't be the whole week. You will drive during the day and stay at motels for the night. There will be an escort of three vehicles with six troopers who will shadow you along the way. You'll have your evenings to yourself."

"Just great! I can see it now—me stuck in some highway motel with six soldiers and Amanda King. It probably won't even have a bar."

"So bring a book to read," Billy said dryly.

"Billy!"

"Scarecrow—this is the Army's game and they want you and Mrs. King. So that's what they'll get." Billy was getting annoyed at Lee's reluctance.

"Amanda won't agree to it. She won't want to be away from home for a whole week…" Lee was getting desperate now.

"She has agreed as long as she can call home every evening. That's a reasonable request and one I was very happy to agree to. She is looking forward to this. And I expect you to work with her and be professional. Can you manage that?"

"Billy!" Lee was aggrieved. Billy gave Lee a look. Lee ran his hand through his hair—again. "Fine—I'll work with her. She can be in charge of the maps."

"No Scarecrow. Mrs. King will drive—at least for the first three days. Doctor's orders. You are to rest and let that leg heal. And driving 500 miles a day is not in the plan to let the leg heal." Lee started to protest, but Billy cut him off. "And that's an order. Got it?"

"Billy, I swear—if I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to fix me up with Amanda…"

Billy was stern. "Mrs. King has proven her skills—the Army brass requested her—she's going along," he stated with finality. "Are you saying you no longer want this assignment?"

"OK, OK! I can be a professional as the next guy." Lee then mumbled in a low tone "Though why they prefer a housewife with no training to…"

Billy cut him off. "What was that, Scarecrow?"

"Nothing, Billy." He stared at his boss looking frustrated. "When do we leave?"

"The Vigilant will be ready at 5am. Captain Sikes will drive it and you to Amanda's. She'll be ready at 6. Your itinerary will be in the van and you'll leave once she has familiarized herself with the vehicle and the route. Any questions?"

"No Billy. I'll be there at 5am," Lee said resignedly.

"Good. See you in a week, then. Have a nice trip."

Lee waited to reply until after his boss had left. "No chance of that."

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As Amanda was mixing up the cookie dough—chocolate chip—the front door burst open and Philip and Jamie ran into the kitchen, followed by Dottie, who looked tired.

"Hi, Mom," the boys chorused.

"Hello, fellas. Where have you been all day?"

Philip started "We were at the zoo—they have this nature walk."

"Yeah," Jamie continued, "you follow a trail to see all the animals that live together in the wild. It teaches you about ecological systems and symbiosis."

"We were all over the zoo, three or four times!" Philip added helpfully. "It was great!"

"That sounds like you had a lot of fun!" Amanda hugged her boys.

Dottie chimed in, "Fun for the children—us grownups just sat and talked. Not that it was bad—no sir. The Littman boys' grandfather was there—he was widowed a couple of years ago—and he's ever so sweet. Though I do wonder if that's his own hair or a toupee. Mind you, if it's a toupee it's a really good one—and a good toupee isn't cheap so he must be doing OK." She got a pleased look on her face. "He asked me out next weekend. I said I'd call him and let him know if I could make it."

"Mother! Why didn't you just say "yes" right away?" Amanda was mystified sometimes at her mother's social interactions.

"Amanda—you can't seem too eager. Sometimes if you make a man wait a bit, he gets more interested in you. Not that you need to worry about that. You have Dean." Dottie smiled at her daughter.

"Yeah, Dean." Amanda answered with little enthusiasm. She steeled herself for the conversation to come. "Mother, I have to talk to you."

"Is it about you and Dean finally setting a date to get married?" She asked eagerly.

Amanda sighed exasperatedly. "No mother. It's not about Dean at all."

"Oh. Well, what is it then?" Dottie was expectant.

Amanda paused, and then plunged right in. "Um, I've been invited to drive an RV to Arizona."

Dottie looked intrigued—the boys stopped and watched their mother and grandmother interestedly. This should prove to be entertaining.

"Who invited you?" Dottie asked as the starting salvo.

"Um, an old college friend—Mazie Walters." Amanda tried to sound confident.

"Mazie Walters. I don't remember anyone from your college days with that name." Dottie was getting warmed up.

Amanda was momentarily taken aback, then she forged gamely onward. "She was a sorority sister—two years ahead of me. Anyhow, she just bought this RV and she's gonna drive it to their vacation spot—they got some land in Arizona and they'll stay there—park the RV there and fly back and forth. But she wants me to come with her and she'll pay for the whole trip plus something for my time and it should be a fun trip…"

"She must be very well off to be paying you for your time." Dottie sounded a bit incredulous.

"She married a stockbroker." Amanda shot back immediately—she was getting good at this.

"Why doesn't her husband go with her on this trip?" Dottie shot back quickly.

Amanda was feeling confident now, "You know the type—he's all work, work, work during the week. So it's either she takes it alone or I go with her."

Dottie was hooked, "She shouldn't drive all that way all alone. You never know what can happen—a blowout or engine problems. I heard once that an RV had an explosion in the plumbing—it was a real mess."

Amanda was momentarily taken aback. "Yes, well this is a new RV so I don't think that will happen."

"Is this related to why you had that RV delivered here last week?" Dottie was still curious about that one.

Amanda was anxious to put that behind her. "Oh not really—I thought about it but they're really expensive so I guess I'm just gonna experience it vicariously with Mazie."

"How did you hook up with Mazie?" Dottie was not ready to concede just yet.

Amanda was really confident now, "Funny thing—she was at the retreat this weekend. It was really nice catching up and she told me about her trip and asked me to come along and I told her I'd check with you."

"How long would you be gone?" Dottie was almost convinced.

"I'd leave tomorrow morning and be back Friday evening." This was the difficult part.

"All week!"

Amanda forged ahead quickly, she knew it was almost a done deal. "Well, it's a long drive to Arizona. Let's get out the maps and look, shall we?"

They spent the next half hour studying maps and tracing possible routes from DC to Phoenix, Arizona. Amanda wasn't sure exactly where the Yuma proving ground was—there were several large Army bases in southwestern Arizona—so she just supposed Phoenix was as good a place as any to end her imaginary trip with Mazie.

Eventually, Dottie agreed to watch the boys for the week while Amanda went to Arizona with her "sorority sister".

Dottie made dinner while Amanda finished baking the cookies. After supper she packed for the week. Casual clothing, but she included one nice outfit—just in case. 'I was hideously underdressed once, and I'm not going to make that same mistake again if I can help it.'

Once the boys and Dottie were in bed she packed up four tins of cookies—one for each vehicle, and a picnic lunch for Lee and herself.

'He'll probably insist we drive straight through. No stops for lunch or anything. But we'll have to make rest stops and even thought the Vigilant has an extra-large gas tank, the cars with us will have to get gas sometime during the day. So we'll have to stop a few times every day, whether he wants to or not.'

She was in bed by 11pm, and her alarm was set for 5am, giving her time to get ready, eat breakfast and make sure everything was set for her trip.

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Billy was back in his office winding up all the paperwork for the trip with the Vigilant. He had one more call to make, to help make the trip a success.

"Captain Sikes?" Billy spoke to the officer who would be commanding the mission to accompany the Vigilant from DC to Yuma.

"Yes, sir!" Sikes was businesslike.

"I'm William Melrose from the Agency. I'm the section chief of the personnel you will be guarding on the trip this week."

"Why do I think this is more than a courtesy call, sir?" Sikes sounded pragmatic.

Billy chuckled. "Let's just say where the mission may be routine, my personnel are somewhat … how do I say this? … out of the ordinary."

"That sounds like a leading statement, sir, if I ever heard one."

"I'm sending the two people who operated the Vigilant early today. The whole incident was something of a fluke, but it turned out well, and your people want the same team as this morning."

"So what makes them out of the ordinary, sir?' Sikes asked.

"All this is classified, and somewhat off the record. But, as CO for the mission, I thought you'd have a better handle on the mission if you knew a few things, unofficially."

"Sir, I appreciate your trust in me, and I'll keep the information to myself."

"The two people I'm sending are partners, but they don't know it yet."

"Sir, would you care to explain that?" Sikes was patient.

"Lee Stetson, Scarecrow, is my best agent. He's been here for over a decade. He started his career with a year in country in 'Nam, and he's career Agency all the way."

"Yeah, a lot of us saw action in 'Nam, sir." Sikes sounded tired.

"Korea was my war, Sikes, but I hear you. Anyhow, Lee lost his partner a year ago, and has refused to work with anyone else since then."

"Refused, sir? Sounds like insubordination."

"Well, insubordination and Scarecrow go hand-in-hand. But he needs someone to keep him in line, and early this month, he found himself a new partner. Only neither of them knows it yet. I consider it a done deal, and now I need them to get used to it all."

"Care to explain a bit more, sir?" Sikes was intrigued.

"Scarecrow was on a mission and handed sensitive information to a civilian during the case, hoping she would hand it off to his contact. Unfortunately—or fortunately actually—she didn't manage to make the contact, and she ended up tagging along and solved the case and rescued Scarecrow as well. Since then, I've managed to get her working with him a couple more times, and as she's interested in the work and wants to continue with the Agency, so who am I to break up such a great team?"

"Who indeed, sir?" Sikes replied rhetorically.

"Anyhow, Amanda King is a civilian auxiliary, and she was the driver this morning. Your brass were impressed with her skills, so she will be the driver for the test. My man, Scarecrow will operate the armament. He was originally scheduled to go in solo, but after this morning, the plans were changed. And as Mrs. King is a civilian auxiliary, she won't cost as much as another full agent would."

"Have to keep the costs down, sir. I understand completely." Sikes said dryly.

"Yes. Mrs. King is thrilled with the assignment, but Stetson is pretty unhappy. I had to order him to go, and use a good bit of psychology as well. He's also recovering from a gunshot wound, suffered in the line of duty, and he's a lousy patient. So Stetson will be cranky to say the least, and as he's on enforced rest for at least three days, he can't drive either. Mrs. King has proven she can handle him at his worst, so I'm not at all worried about her. But Stetson may cause you some grief, just to blow off steam. Don't let him get to you. If he tries anything official, just contact me, and I'll review it and give it all the attention it properly deserves, before I deep-six it."

"I hear you loud and clear, sir. It will be my pleasure." Sikes laughed.

"Mrs. King is a good person, and I still wonder why she would want to be a part of all this, but I'm not going to pass this opportunity up. I'd appreciate it if you could look out for her a bit, and try to run interference if Stetson gives her too hard a time. Mostly just be there if she needs moral support."

"It will be my pleasure, sir. One other thing, though."

"What's that, Sikes?"

"What service was Stetson in during his tour, if I might ask sir?"

"Marines. He's currently a Captain in the reserves."

"Jar-head. Figures."

Billy laughed. "Don't hold it against him too much, Sikes. He has an uncle in the Air Force who raised him, and he didn't want to be a squid, so the Marines was his choice at the time. I think he chose the Marines mostly to annoy his uncle."

"Sounds like I'd like that uncle, sir."

"He's career military, and a good officer, if a bit unconventional at times. Anyhow, I'm hoping this trip will help Scarecrow and Mrs. King get to know each other a bit better, and get used to each other more. They seem to work well together but they're very different personalities and have vastly different backgrounds. They argue a lot, but that's not a worry for me, as long as they can get the job done. They need to find some common ground between them, and a week together on a long trip sounds like an ideal way to let them become more friendly toward each other."

"Should I expect them to be sharing a room, sir?" Sikes asked a bit apprehensively.

Billy laughed. "You don't know Mrs. King, otherwise you'd never ask that question. No, Sikes, they will definitely have separate rooms, maybe at opposite ends of the motel, if Scarecrow has his way. Just put them in adjoining rooms, and that will be enough. They have to work things out between them by themselves, if they are to be a successful team. And so far, they are successful. And I want to keep them that way, so I'm giving them a bit of a nudge with this little trip."

"It's your call, sir. But I'm glad I'm not in your position. Sounds like these two could be more trouble than they're worth."

"Actually, I like Stetson, he's a great agent and a good man as well. But that doesn't mean I'm blind to his faults and shortcomings. And Mrs. King compliments his skills and faults beautifully. She has the people skills that Scarecrow lacks. And some interesting instincts, if reports are to be believed. And he has the experience and training. So for now, they're partners until it's clear to me they aren't working out, or they fail to get the job done consistently. And for this week, they're under your eye, which is why I made this little heads-up call. Scarecrow doesn't always go by the book, but he does get the job done, and he has a great solve rate, which is why he's still employed at the Agency. Mrs. King is enthusiastic and idealistic, but she can handle him. Just expect a few fireworks over the week, don't let Scarecrow get out of hand, and be there if Mrs. King needs moral support."

"You aren't asking for much, sir." Sikes said dryly. "I have a request, if I might, sir."

"What's that, Sikes?"

"One of my men has relatives who run a diner along the route. He's a good man, but he needs a bit of encouragement, and an impromptu visit might help him with morale. I'd like to stop there for lunch the first day, if that's all right with you, sir."

"Is it a secure site? Any chance for a mishap there?"

"I've checked it out, sir. I have no reservations about making the stop. We have to stop for meals anyhow, it's on the way, and in a good place for lunch. Just happens to be in the right place, and if I can help one of my men in the line of our normal duties, well, I like to keep my men happy if I can, sir."

"Then I'm OK with it. If Scarecrow squawks, I'll take care of it for you."

"Thank you, sir. Is that all?"

Billy thought for a moment. "That's it. Have a good trip, and enjoy Mrs. King. She's a good person, and very different from any other agent I know. Of course she's not an official agent…"

"Just like she's not officially Stetson's partner… sir." Sikes finished for Billy.

"If you have problems, you have my number. Don't hesitate to call, Sikes."

"No sir, but now I have this information, I think things will work out pretty well. Thanks for the heads-up, sir. I appreciate it."

"I'll see you Friday at Yuma. I want to be there for the test. I missed them in action last time, and this time I want to observe them for myself in the field. I don't get that opportunity very often, and I plan to take full advantage of it. Oh, and I'd appreciate a report from you on what you observe of them together. Unofficially, of course."

Sikes chuckled. "Well, sir, as you're OK with the lunch stop for my man, I guess I can write something up to repay the favor. And I think I'll stay to watch the test as well. If these people are as unusual as you say, should be an interesting test, all things considered. See you Friday, sir."

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Lee finally got home in the evening after being treated and debriefed. He took a cab because his leg was throbbing—even with the pain pills the doctor had prescribed. He stopped for Chinese on the way home, knowing there was nothing at his apartment other than coffee, liquor and unidentified very old food in his fridge.

He ate after pushing papers and dirty clothes off the couch and coffee table. Then he packed his bags for a weeks drive in the RV.

'Just great—a week in an RV with Amanda King. And evenings in no-tell motels.' He packed a couple of sizable history books he had planned to read "someday". 'Might as well bring something to do in the evenings—otherwise it'll be pizza with rent-a-movies with the troopers or Amanda. Porn or family movies—what choices! I'll read. A lot.' He added another book to his bag—just in case. 'And seeing as there won't be any bars or anything…' He added a brand-new bottle of scotch. 'No reason I can't relax in the evenings. God knows, I'll need it after a whole day with Amanda King. Now if it was Francine… I bet we could find a few things to do to amuse ourselves…' He smiled at the memory of their brief affair a few years before after Jonathan had left her at the altar. 'We probably wouldn't be doing that—but we have lots in common and we can sure talk. What the hell will I have to talk about with Amanda? She'll try to "get to know me better"—just like this last weekend.' He sighed. 'Eric did, too.' Lee thought about his dead partner. 'But he was an agent and a man and we did get along. We weren't really alike—but he did turn into a good friend. I should call Lois when I get back. Make sure she and Bethy are doing OK. The pension and death benefits are good—so she has enough money to get by—but I still call to let her know she isn't forgotten. Billy does, too. But he isn't the reason she's a widow. I am. Eric took that bullet for me. First Dorothy, then Eric. And a few in between—though those two are the only partners I've lost.' He ran his hand through his hair. 'And Amanda King had the gall to think she was my partner! She has no idea what it means to be partners. "He laughs at your jokes, loans you his socks, and one day, takes a bullet through the head for you."' Lee bowed his head. 'That's all I told her but Eric was a good friend. He bailed me out so many times—once literally.' He chuckled at the memory. 'It was worth it, though. Inga is a great woman—even if she doesn't speak much English and didn't know making love in a public park is illegal. We just got unlucky to get caught by that cop. Good thing Eric was a family man—he was home when I called. We even managed to keep it off the books and Billy never found out. Hmmm. I wonder what Inga's doing these days? I haven't been to Sweden in a while—maybe I should hint around to Billy I'd be agreeable to an assignment over there…'

Lee sat musing about the delectable Inga. He got up and pulled out his black books, and added them to his luggage also. 'You never know—I might end up somewhere one of my "ladies" happens to live. I'll check it out once we get the itinerary. Since I'll be riding shotgun for the first three days, I'll have lots of time to check it out. The stops will be planned—reservations made—so I'll know in advance where we'll be each evening. Maybe I'll get lucky.' He got up again and went to his bedroom and removed a box of condoms from the drawer in the bedside stand. 'Better pack these as well—just in case.'


	2. Chapter 2

I've tried writing in vernacular. Hope it worked. Or at least it doesn't detract from the story.

Road Trip by Ermintrude

Monday, Day One—DC to Knoxville, TN

Amanda was ready and waiting at 6am when the RV drove up and stopped in front of her Arlington home. A man got out and walked to her door. She didn't recognize him, but as he came out of the Vigilant, she figured he was OK. He was a black man, tall and broad-shouldered, with short hair and a scruffy unshaven look.

She opened the door before he could ring the bell. She had said her goodbyes the night before and she didn't want to wake her sleeping family.

"Good morning!" She greeted the man.

"Ma'am." He saluted her. "I am Captain Sikes—I drove the vehicle over here seeing as your partner is out of commission for a few days."

"Oh, thank you—um—Lee really isn't my partner—well, I'm not his partner—I just help out from time to time…" Her ramble ran down. "I'll just get my bags and we'll get going."

"Let me, ma'am." Captain Sikes hefted her two bags and backpack. Amanda grabbed the picnic hamper and cookie tins along with her purse. She closed and locked the door and went to the RV. She then saw the three cars parked behind the RV.

"Oh here, let me give these to you guys." She dropped her things at the door of the RV and made her way to each car, handing the occupants a tin of cookies for each car.

"These are for you—I know they won't last a week, but I thought they might help make the drive easier with a nice treat."

"Thank you ma'am." Each driver answered politely, though they were clearly confused.

Lee poked his head out the door of the RV. "Amanda, come on! The quicker we start, the sooner we'll get there."

She made her way back to the RV. "Good morning, Lee."

Captain Sikes came up behind Amanda. "Ma'am, I'm here to help familiarize you with the vehicle. Then I'll be in one of the cars escorting you."

"Thank you, Captain. I would appreciate that." Captain Sikes assisted her into the RV. He took the picnic basket and stowed it in the back with her luggage. She saw there were two other bags back there. Lee's luggage she presumed.

Lee was sitting in the passenger seat. A cane was leaning against the bucket seat.

"How is your leg doing, Lee?" She wanted to be polite and nice to him. It must be difficult for him not to be able to drive after being shot the day before.

"I'll live, Amanda. Let's get this show on the road." Lee was impatient.

"Sure—Captain Sikes will just show me what I need to know here. She gave Lee and encouraging smile.

"OK, ma'am. You drove it yesterday, but I'll just go over it again to be sure you'll be comfortable."

He sat Amanda in the driver's seat and pointed out all the usual driving controls. "There's no cruise control. Sorry, ma'am."

"That's OK, I'll manage." She replied with a smile.

There was a two-way radio that would link them with the other cars so they could convoy, but not all be within sight of each other. It would be less conspicuous that way.

Captain Sikes spoke to both Lee and Amanda. "One car will be in close proximity at all times. We'll trade off. If you want to stop, just radio us and we'll stop also."

"We won't be stopping much," Lee interjected.

"Oh Lee, we'll need to stop occasionally—rest stops—and then we'll need lunch and this RV may have extra big gas tanks, but the cars will need gas before we stop for the night. We'll be stopping, I'm sure."

"Yes ma'am. We plan to stop halfway for lunch and maybe gas then also. But if you need to stop before then, just radio. We'll follow your lead all the way."

"Thank you, Captain." Amanda smiled at him.

"You familiarize yourself with the vehicle. I'll wait until you feel comfortable, ma'am."

Amanda adjusted the seat and mirrors and went over the various buttons and controls again. Lee fidgeted nervously. He wanted to get going.

After a few minutes, she felt she was comfortable enough to get going. "OK Captain, I'm ready. Let's get this show on the road!"

"Yes ma'am. Sir." Captain Sikes saluted them both—Lee returned the salute—then looked a bit chagrined.

"Yeah Captain, thanks." He covered his nervousness.

The Captain left the RV and Lee locked the door after him. He returned to his seat as Amanda started the RV. "OK Lee, Arizona, here we come!"

"A—man—da! This isn't a pleasure trip—it's strictly business."

"I know its business, but nothing says we can't make the most of it. Think of all the beautiful scenery we'll see along the way!"

"Oh yeah, Oklahoma and Texas are really scenic—all that flat stretching from horizon to horizon." Lee replied sarcastically.

"There will be some wonderful scenery before and after that. So what's our route?"

Lee consulted the itinerary. "Get to 66 west—then we hit 81 south and that turns into 40 west. We drive that for 500 miles and are scheduled to stop in Knoxville for the night."

"OK—Here we go!"

They were quiet as Amanda drove. The first half-hour she was busy concentrating on their route out of town and getting used to the feel of the RV on the road. It handled well, but it was still a large vehicle and she was more careful driving than usual. Once she felt more comfortable driving, she tried to strike up a conversation with Lee.

"Captain Sikes seems nice. Where is he from?"

"What? I have no idea." Lee was startled out of some deep thoughts—mostly of the good times with his girlfriends he would be missing while on this little junket. 'Oh well, he thought. Being shot I'm pretty well laid up for the week anyhow, so it's probably best I'm on an assignment. Sure beats sitting in some hospital room.'

Amanda interrupted his thoughts again; "I thought you spies checked people out before you worked with them. Are you telling me you know nothing about Captain Sikes and the other men in those three cars who are supposedly guarding the Vigilant?" She was incredulous.

"Oh that. They're Army Special Forces—this is the Army's vehicle and they're paying for the trip so their guys are guarding us. Billy said they checked out—so I'm OK with it."

"You saluted back when Captain Sikes saluted you."

"Uh, yeah."

"Were you in the Army, Lee?"

"No, Marines."

"Really. Did you serve in Vietnam?"

He was quiet. Amanda glanced at him and saw he was staring out the window, the muscle in his jaw twitching. He was staring at something far away, and she thought what he was seeing was definitely not on the road ahead.

Finally he answered her. "Yes." Then he resumed his brooding silence.

"What did you do over there?" she asked quietly.

"Amanda, I don't like to talk about 'Nam, OK? I was in country—I did my tour—I got into a few tight places but I had help from friendly locals and I got out OK in one piece. A lot of guys didn't. End of story." He resumed his stare out the window.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I called up bad memories. I was just trying to make conversation." She was contrite.

"Well don't. Just drive. It will be easier on both of us." He resumed his brooding silence.

Amanda refused to be intimidated by Lee's bad mood. 'I'm not going to let him get me down. They wanted me on this trip and I'm gonna make the most of it. With or without Scarecrow's help.'

"Boy, you're sure grouchy this morning. Could you please get me some coffee? There's a thermos in the picnic basket and two cups. I made lots so you can have some too if you like."

Lee sighed. He was grouchy—his leg hurt and he was frustrated that he couldn't drive. He maneuvered back to the picnic basket and found the thermos, along with little packets of sugar and cream. He fixed two cups of coffee.

He handed her a cup, "Here you are, black with sugar."

"Thanks—you remembered."

"Well we were "married" a few weeks back."

"Yeah, we were." She smiled at him and he smiled back. Then he shifted in his seat. 'He must be hurting,' she thought. 'I'll just let him be for a while and watch the scenery. Maybe he'll relax and later we can talk.'

As they drove west, the terrain became more hilly until they were on the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains. Being late October, the fall colors were near peak—though the color diminished the farther south they drove.

After two and a half hours, Amanda spoke: "Lee, can you get Captain Sikes on the radio? I need to make a rest stop, and there's one in 20 miles."

"Hmm? Sure." Lee used the radio and 20 miles ahead Amanda drove the RV into the rest stop and parked. Two of the escort cars were already there. The other car was following the RV. "You go first, Amanda, I'll wait until you get back. We can't leave the RV unattended."

"OK." Amanda got out and after her stop saw the soldiers were gathered around the Vigilant. Lee saw her returning, and he took off with his cane to make his own stop.

Amanda greeted the group of soldiers. "Hello, I'm Amanda King. I just thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves."

Captain Sikes spoke. "Ma'am, these are Taylor, Valentiner, Wyatt, Unwin and Young." He indicated each man as he spoke his name. Amanda shook the hand of each man as he was introduced.

The men were all well-built, wearing civilian clothes, but they had a scruffy unkempt look about them. They all wore jeans and boots, and had on loose shirts over t-shirts. One man—Young—shifted and Amanda saw the butt of a gun in a shoulder harness. They were wary, always watching as if they expected to be attacked at any moment. She pointed out Lee as he made his way back to the RV with the help of his cane. "That's Lee Stetson, I work with him. I just want to say thank you for accompanying us on this trip. Maybe we can get to know each other better at lunch or dinner this evening." She smiled brightly at the men as she spoke.

Captain Sikes replied. "Ma'am, we won't be all together at any one time. At least one man will be with the vehicle at all times. We'll take shifts. But we all will see you eventually at meals."

Taylor stepped forward—he was tall and lanky with dark straight hair. Amanda thought he looked Native-American. He spoke softly. "Thank you for the cookies, ma'am. They're very good. Just like my grandma makes."

"You're welcome—um—Mr. Taylor."

"Just Taylor, ma'am." He replied.

The other men also mumbled thanks for the cookies.

Lee reached the group, nodded at them, and climbed into the RV. "A—man—da! Let's get going!"

"Oh, I have to go." She replied. "It was nice meeting you all, and I look forward to talking to you at lunch and dinner tonight."

"Ma'am." Captain Sikes helped Amanda into the RV.

"Thank you, Captain."

She climbed into the drivers' seat and turned to Lee, "They seem like nice men—but they're awfully quiet."

"Amanda, they're special forces—the tough guys—you know, Green Berets."

"Oh. I guess I understand why they're not in uniform, but they all look so—unkempt. I thought the Green Berets were all spit and polish."

"That's when they're on parade. In the field they're trained to blend in and not look like soldiers."

Amanda chuckled, "They don't look like soldiers, but they sure don't blend in, either. They look like a bunch of bodyguards."

"That's because they are bodyguards. They're guarding the RV and us."

"Really, they're guarding us?" Amanda was surprised at this revelation.

"Yes. Their assignment is to see that you and I and the Vigilant all get to Yuma safely. Once we enter the proving grounds, their mission is finished."

"Oh." Amanda thought for a few minutes. "Lee, I thought the Green Berets were soldiers who fight overseas. Why are they accompanying us?"

"One of their many duties is also internal security—guarding important people or equipment. And for the week, that's us in the Vigilant."

"Wow, I'm an important person for internal security."

"Don't make more of it than it is. You're just the driver of an RV."

"But it's not just any RV, it's the Vigilant, an important piece of military hardware." She was quiet for a few more moments thinking. "I got us some sodas at the rest stop. Can you bring me one?"

"Sure." Lee got the sodas, grateful Amanda had changed the subject.

They drove another two hours and then the radio crackled to life.

"Sikes to Vigilant, are you there?"

"Yeah, Sikes, we're here." Lee answered. "What've you got?"

"In 10 miles take exit 432—there's a diner there. We've planned a chow break. You copy?"

"Got it, we'll stop. See you then."

They pulled up to a small-town cafe a couple miles off the interstate—The Buck was the name over the door.

As Lee and Amanda exited the Vigilant, Valentiner entered it. She told Lee to go ahead, she'd be in in a minute.

Amanda came back into the RV. Valentiner was seated in the rear seat. He was not tall, but dark and handsome in an Italian sort of way. He spoke with a New York accent.

"Valentiner—is it OK to call you that?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

"I know you can't come in and eat, and anyhow I packed a picnic lunch for Lee and myself—but we'll be eating in the restaurant so please—help yourself to whatever you want. There are sandwiches—roast beef and chicken salad—chips, celery and carrot sticks, fruit and these little pudding cups for dessert. It won't keep forever and I'd feel better knowing you had a decent meal while the rest of us were in the restaurant."

He was reluctant. "I'll be OK, ma'am, really."

"Please, have lunch here. I won't be able to eat if I know you're going without. The roast beef is really good—nice and rare with a hint of garlic and a little mayo…" She held up the sandwich and unwrapped the plastic wrap waving it under the soldier's nose.

"That sure smells like good deli—just like back home. OK ma'am, you've sold me." He smiled and took the sandwich. "Thank you." He took a big bite.

"You're welcome." She retrieved the thermos, planning on getting it refilled with coffee from the restaurant.

Amanda entered the restaurant—it was homey and definitely not any chain-type fast food place. There was a large room with tables of various sizes all around—each with a lazy susan in the middle. Most of the tables were round. She looked around and spied Lee and the rest of the men around a large table in the corner near the kitchen. Unwin was the recipient of a bear hug from an older woman, and several more staff were crowded around them. Unwin was skinny, with pale hair and eyes and many freckles. He had a big Adam's apple and looked gangly, though he moved like the other soldiers, in a controlled and wary manner.

The woman hugging him was an older, heavier version of Unwin, with her iron gray hair in a bun. "Oh boy—it's so good to see you. Yore mama would be so proud of you. Servin' yore country!"

"Thanks, Aint Glory—I shore wish she was here to see me."

"Yore mama watches you from heaven for sure, boy. Never doubt that for a minute." She let him go. "So introduce us all to yore friends here."

"Sure—this here's Captain Sikes, my CO, and Taylor, Wyatt and Young. This here's Mr. Stetson and Mrs. King."

"Aint" Glory smiled and shook the hand of each person as they were introduced.

"Mrs. King baked cookies for all of us. She's a real nice lady, Aint Glory." Unwin added shyly as his aunt embraced Amanda.

"Well, any friends of my nephew are friends of mine. Now sit, and we'll bring out lunch. I hope yore all powerful hungry because we have some mighty good food here." She addressed the staff, "Get goin' girls—bring out the platters and bowls. These folks need lunch!"

The two waitresses went into the kitchen and emerged with platters and bowls of food. They placed them on the lazy susan in the center of their table.

"Eat up! And girls—make sure those bowls stay filled. These men—and lady—need feedin' up some."

There was fried chicken, ham with red-eye gravy, sausages and gravy, biscuits, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, hush puppies, three different vegetables—greens in pot liquor, beets and green and yellow beans with bacon—and a large bowl of salad. Everyone looked a bit lost until Unwin started serving himself. "Just dig in and fill your plates. They'll keep it comin' until we're all full. Then comes dessert." Unwin piled his plate, turning the lazy susan to serve himself from most of the plates and bowls.

The rest of the group dug in and soon everyone had gotten down to the business of lunch. The waitresses came by and got refreshments for all—coffee, lemonade, milk or sodas.

Wyatt spoke, "It's a shame Valentiner has to stay in the vehicle. He can chow down with the best of them."

Amanda piped up, "Oh he's OK—he's eating the picnic lunch I packed. I couldn't let him go hungry."

Unwin looked up at her, "That's powerful nice, ma'am."

Amanda shrugged, "It's no big deal, I made it and it won't keep forever. You guys need your 'chow' too."

Captain Sikes replied, "It's appreciated, ma'am—but don't worry—we'd have brought him back something. We Green Berets take care of our own."

Once they had finished their meal the main course was cleared and an amazing array of desserts appeared. Several kinds of pie; pecan, peach, blueberry and pumpkin; rice pudding, apple cobbler and lemon bars. Aint Glory insisted on serving each of them personally and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Amanda produced her thermos and it was promptly filled with freshly brewed coffee.

When they all had finished, Captain Sikes produced a credit card and argued with Aint Glory over the bill."Ma'am we have to pay. This is an Army expense card and the Army must reimburse you."

"Now, do you think I'd make my nephew's friends pay for their meals?"

"Ma'am, please. Just charge us like normal customers. If we don't have the proper vouchers, there will be difficulties in the end."

Unwin spoke up, "Aint Glory, just do as the Cap'n says. He's in command here."

"Well I ain't in the Army and he don't command me." She turned to Sikes. "You say you'll get in trouble lessen I charge you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You think the gub'mint would be grateful lettin' someone else pay for feedin' these strappin' men. And lady." She nodded to Amanda.

In the end the bill was settled, goodbyes were said and they all headed back to their vehicles.

Sikes announced to the group, "We'll gas up before hitting the road."

All four vehicles gassed up. Valentiner thanked Amanda for the fine lunch. The soldiers were more friendly and seemed quite solicitous of Amanda. Lee had been mostly silent through lunch and afterward.

Once back on the road, Lee fixed more coffee for Amanda and himself. Amanda was feeling good and didn't notice his mood.

"Gee Lee, that was awfully nice—Unwin was able to see his family."

"Amanda, I can't believe Sikes allowed that! It was a major breach of security." Lee was angry.

"Oh. I didn't think of that." She was chagrined.

"And what was that with the picnic lunch anyway?"

"Well, I didn't know if any stops were planned for lunch—so I packed us a picnic lunch. Since Valentiner had to stay in the RV while the rest of us ate, I just thought it would be good to let him have it. Like I said—it won't keep forever and he needed something…"

"A—man—da! You're here to drive the Vigilant—not feed the world!"

"Lee, there's cookies for us, too. You just haven't wanted anything. And after that lunch…"

"Tell me about it. It's a wonder if we don't all die of heart attacks." Lee shook his head.

"The soldiers seemed to enjoy it."

"When you're in the service you learn to eat what's put in front of you because sometimes you don't know when you'll get chow again."

"Did you learn that in the Marines?"

Lee seemed taken aback by her question. He had been thinking of his childhood with the Colonel. "Uh—yeah." He fell silent.

"So Lee, what do you want to talk about?" she asked brightly.

"Amanda—do we have to talk?" Lee was annoyed.

"No, we don't. But it does make the drive easier if you talk. We still have several hours before we reach Knoxville. So, what do you want to talk about?" she asked again in her same cheerful tone.

Lee sighed. 'She's determined to chat. Better get it over with.' He cast about for a safe, neutral topic. "Seen any good movies lately?

"The boys saw a dinosaur movie with their friends on Saturday while we were out with the Survivors. They seem to like those weird dinosaur movies! Mother and I had planned to see "The Big Chill"—but I was working with you last weekend."

"Yeah, I was hoping to see that new one—"The Right Stuff"—the astronaut movie.

"The boys have seen "Return of the Jedi" four times so far. I went the first two times, but that's more than enough for me."

"Awww, Amanda! Star Wars is fun!"

"Yes its fun, but I guess I don't need to see it more than twice."

"I saw "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez" a few weeks back."

"I hadn't heard about that one, what's it about?"

"It's a western about a horseman who is pursued by the law, and evades capture for a while. Then he is captured but he doesn't speak English and a local woman is enlisted to translate during his trial."

"Oh. You like westerns, do you?"

"Oh yeah. The Duke is my hero!" Lee was sounding enthusiastic.

"What's your favorite movie of his?"

"That's a tough one—I do like his last one—"The Shootist"."

"That was really good—but very violent."

"It was a violent time. I like Ford's cavalry trilogy—"Fort Apache", "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", and "Rio Grande." And "The Fighting Seabees." It's not really historically accurate—but it's good nonetheless."

"I like "The Quiet Man". Maureen O'Hara is so good in that one. Oh, and I think he should have gotten the Oscar for "Sons of Katie Elder" and not "True Grit"."

"Yeah—most people agree on that one. How do you know so much about movies, Amanda?"

"When you have teething children who won't sleep unless you hold them, you watch a lot of movies on late-night TV."

"Didn't your mother help out?"

Amanda paused. "Mother didn't live with us then," she answered quietly.

"What about your ex? He help with the kids?"

Amanda was silent. Then she spoke so softly Lee almost didn't hear her. "He traveled a lot."

Even Lee got that hint, and steered clear from pursuing the subject further.

"So," he said brightly in an effort to change the subject, "what's your favorite movie, Amanda?"

"I really love "The Sound of Music"."

"You like musicals?"

"I like musicals, comedies, dramas—just a good movie. But I don't like horror movies or pictures that are too violent. I saw "A Clockwork Orange" in college—I thought it would be OK because "2001" was so good and Kubrick did both of them—but it was incredibly violent."

"Wasn't that released as an "X"?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah—but a bunch of us had never seen an X-rated movie and so we sort of dared each other… It was a long time before I saw another X-rated movie. I saw the recut R-version of "Midnight Cowboy" in college and that was adult enough for me." She blushed at the memory.

Lee chuckled, "You are a wild woman, Amanda King."

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about movies they'd seen, both good and bad.

As they drove into Knoxville, Lee realized his leg felt quite a bit better—and he had forgotten his afternoon pain pill. 'Maybe this won't be such a bad trip after all. It's been fun talking about all those old movies. I saw most of them at the bases with the airmen—but that was all we had on weekends at some of those bases overseas. Gee, Amanda is fun to talk to. At least about movies.' He felt more at ease with her company as they arrived at the motel in Knoxville.

Captain Sikes dealt with the motel staff and they ended up with four adjacent rooms in the back on the ground floor of a Motel 6 along the interstate. They parked the RV in the back of the lot, and the cars by their rooms.

Once they had unloaded their luggage and Sikes had made duty and room assignments to the soldiers—the seven of them—minus Unwin who was staying in the Vigilant—walked across the street to a Denny's for dinner.

Over their meal, the soldiers discussed their plans for the evening.

"The motel has HBO—we could watch a movie." Young said.

"Or we could play poker. How about it ma'am, sir—" Valentiner addressed Lee and Amanda, "do you play poker?"

"Not really. You guys go ahead—I brought a couple books to read. I'll be fine." Amanda replied.

"Yeah," Lee said, "I'll probably just read, too. Rest my leg a bit."

"Suit yourselves, but poker's better with more people." Valentiner tried again.

Amanda smiled at the group. "Maybe another night. I'm a bit tired from all the driving."

The soldiers went to the far room to play poker. Lee and Amanda walked to their rooms. They paused outside Amanda's room.

"Amanda, I had fun talking about all those old movies," Lee confessed.

She smiled at him. "Yeah, me too."

"We could check out the TV—see if something was on…"

She was touched by his offer. But her back and shoulders were aching from driving the RV all day. "That's really sweet, Lee. But I'm pretty tired from driving all day… I just want to take a long hot shower and climb into bed—maybe read a bit—but I think I'll fall asleep pretty quickly. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night—well, I got to bed really late and I was up really early…"

Lee shook his head. 'She can say so much so quickly—it's some weird natural talent she has.' He interrupted her ramble. "That's OK. Maybe another night?" He took her hand.

"She was surprised, but tried not to react too strongly. "Yeah—another night. That would be nice…"

"Goodnight Amanda. Sleep well."

"Thanks, you too. See you in the morning."

He squeezed her hand and then made sure she was safely in her room with the door securely locked, before he went into his room for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Tuesday, Day Two—Knoxville, TN to Little Rock, AR

At 6am the alarms rang for the group and they went to breakfast at 6:30 in the restaurant. Amanda had brought the thermos again, and had it refilled with coffee. They ate quickly, checked out and were on the road shortly after 7:30.

In the Vigilant, Amanda was feeling well-rested. "How did you sleep, Lee?" she asked her companion in the passenger seat.

'OK. My leg feels better today. Hey—maybe I can drive after lunch—what do you say?" He gave her his best smile.

"Lee—you were ordered—no driving for at least three days. You have to let that leg heal. I don't want you—or me—to get in trouble with Mr. Melrose by disobeying his order."

"I'm healed. I heal quickly." He sounded a bit desperate as he tried to convince her.

"Lee…" She wasn't buying it. "So, today is Knoxville to Little Rock—all across Tennessee and into Arkansas. I just love the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the fall colors are so spectacular!"

"The trees have been pretty," Lee answered her in a less-than-enthusiastic tone.

Amanda noticed his lack of enthusiasm. 'He can't drive for three days, and he's just got to live with that. Maybe he's not a morning person. He had coffee at the restaurant—that's all he had for breakfast—just coffee. That's all he had at Betsy Ross Estates, too. That's not a very good breakfast. When we were on the Connie Beth case, he sure wanted to talk in the morning—but that was business. The only business we have right now is to drive. It's nice scenery—so I'll just watch that. Maybe after our first rest stop I can try to talk to him again.'

A little over an hour into their drive, the radio crackled to life.

"Sikes to Vigilant."

"We're here, Sikes," Lee answered.

"Pull off at the next rest stop. We're having car troubles."

"OK, will do." Lee replied.

They pulled in a few miles down the road. Sikes and Unwin were looking under the hood of their car—steam was coming from the radiator. The two other cars pulled up with the RV and parked.

Lee started to get out. "Stay here, Amanda. I'm going to check this out."

Lee walked to the car and arrived with the rest of the soldiers.

"Looks like a hose bust, sir," Unwin was saying.

Sikes nodded, "Yeah, this one's out of commission." He was irritated.

Lee was peeved, "I thought these cars were checked out?"

Sikes turned to the agent, "They were—but hoses wear out, pure and simple, Stetson. No outside interference."

"What do you plan to do?" Lee challenged.

Sikes marshaled his patience. "We'll just leave this vehicle here and call to let the brass know where it is and hope they'll get us a replacement at lunch or the motel this evening."

Lee nodded. At least they wouldn't have to wait for repairs. "Sounds like a plan."

Sikes and Unwin transferred their luggage to the other cars and waited while Sikes called in to his superiors.

Wyatt walked over to the RV. Amanda let him in.

"Ma'am, you might as well make a pit stop as long as we're here. I'll stay with the vehicle. I took my break already."

"Thank you, Wyatt, that's very thoughtful." Amanda smiled at the handsome soldier.

Amanda took her break and made her way to the disabled car afterward. Lee spotted her as she walked up. "Amanda, I thought I told you to stay with the RV!"

"Wyatt is in there—we should all take a break as long as we're here and already stopped."

Lee was taken aback. "Oh yeah, that makes sense."

The men ambled off and soon they were reassembled around the disabled car.

Sikes had finished his call and taken a break also. "The brass say to keep going with the two cars. They'll have a replacement at the motel this evening. But let's stay in visual range for the rest of the day. With only two escort vehicles—if another breaks down, we're in trouble."

Amanda piped up, "We have an extra chair in the RV. Lee is supposed to study the van's—um—equipment anyhow. One of you guys could ride with us," she offered.

Lee frowned, but didn't object.

Sikes was appreciative of her offer. "That's a good idea, ma'am. Wyatt will stay in the Vigilant with you, then." He walked to the RV and relayed his orders to Wyatt inside.

Lee moved to the rear seat by the computer controls for the offensive equipment. There were several manuals there stored in a compartment that he could study. "I'll sit back here and check out the manuals. Wyatt—you can ride shotgun," he decided.

"Yes sir." Wyatt turned to Amanda, "Ma'am, is that OK with you?"

"Oh, sure." Amanda smiled brightly.

Once on the road, Amanda struck up a conversation with the soldier. Wyatt was tall and blonde, broad shouldered and quite good-looking.

"So Wyatt, where are you from?"

"Iowa, ma'am."

"Where in Iowa?"

"Small place. I grew up on a farm outside Burlington."

"Where is that in the state?"

"Southeast corner, ma'am. On the Mississippi."

"Burlington, "Amanda thought for a moment. "Like the railroad, Burlington Northern?"

"Yes ma'am. The railroad was a big industry last century. Now there's the packing plants, the cement plant and the prison."

"Prison?"

"Yeah, Iowa state penitentiary—my dad works there as a guard."

"How could he work as a guard and be a farmer?" Amanda was puzzled.

"Lotsa farmers have town jobs. We mostly rented out our land—except a few acres we put in hay and feed corn. Mostly we raised livestock. Pigs."

"That sounds like a lot of work."

"Yes ma'am, it sure is."

"So you took care of the chores while your dad worked?"

"We have a big family, ma'am. I'm the third of seven kids—four girls, three boys—we all worked at chores, cleaning the barns and whatever else was needed. My oldest sister was really good with the sows. She earned a dime for each piglet she helped deliver alive. Now she's a vet."

"You must be proud. How did you end up a Green Beret?"

"I wanted to go to college—but of course my folks couldn't help out. I joined the Army to get college money, and I liked it. When the call came for special forces training—I just knew I'd make it. Three quarters of the men wash out."

"Wow, it must be tough!"

"We're the best of the best, ma'am. I specialized in demolition and explosives. Next year I'll take classes in nukes."

"Oh." Amanda was taken aback. "That sounds … interesting."

"Where are you from, ma'am?"

"Oh—just Arlington. Lived there all my life. I went to UVA—University of Virginia—for college. Then I got married and had two boys—and I still live in Arlington."

"Your husband with the kids this week?"

"No—we're divorced. My mother lives with us now. She's a great help. She's taking care of the boys this week. Philip is 10 and Jamie is 8. They're great boys."

"Well ma'am, if you bake cookies for them like you did for us, they have a great mom!"

"Oh really—I'm always baking stuff—doing a few dozen more cookies wasn't any big deal."

"My younger sister was a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off. I know how much work all that is."

"Wow, the Pillsbury Bake-Off. I entered once, but they never even wrote back. She must be really good!"

"She's always baking and cooking. I think she'll become a chef—or maybe just find a nice guy and settle down as his wife. She's pretty much a home-body. She's a much better cook than my mom—mom's much better at driving a tractor or bus than she is as a cook."

"Your mom drives a bus?"

"Yeah—school bus. She does morning and afternoon runs for all the schools. And drives the teams during the season, too. No kids better act up on her bus."

"She's tough, huh?"

"Ma'am, Captain Sikes is a good C.O. but he isn't anywhere near as tough as my mom."

"I thought your dad would be the tough one—he's the prison guard."

"Oh no. He's calm and endlessly patient. He says us kids are sweet and reasonable compared to the inmates. He says most of them aren't too smart and they make really dumb choices. And they keep making dumb choices unless they finally decide to straighten out. He says he knows which guys will be back when they're paroled."

"I guess he would get to know them."

"Yeah. He says all the programs—education, classes, help—so many inmates never take advantage of it. They just sit day after day in their cells. Then they get out and have no idea how to live in the world."

"Wow. I guess you can try, but if the guy doesn't do his part—it really doesn't matter."

"Oh look! Alaska!" Wyatt pointed excitedly at a passing car.

"Where? Oh yeah. Wow! That's a rare one!"

"I saw Hawaii once." Wyatt admitted smugly.

"Really?" Amanda was surprised.

"Yeah, one time I went with dad hauling a load of hogs to Kansas City. We saw Hawaii along the way. It was a really big deal."

Lee piped up from the back, "How can you see Hawaii between Iowa and Kansas City?"

Amanda and Wyatt looked at each other and laughed.

Amanda answered, "Lee it's a game—the license plate game."

"What?" Lee was totally confused.

Amanda explained, "When you take a long car trip it's a way to pass the time. You have a sheet with all the states and DC, and you see who can spot the most license plates from the states. It works best if you're on a long cross-country trip, and if you go somewhere like Yellowstone—you can get most all of the states. Except Hawaii. I never heard of anyone getting Hawaii before this."

"Oh." Lee was sarcastic, "You play this game often, Amanda?"

"It's a good way of keeping the kids quiet." She replied as if she hadn't noticed his sarcasm.

"You ever play license plate poker?" Wyatt asked.

Amanda answered, "No, I'd rather the boys get older before they learn that bit of knowledge."

Lee piped up from the back in an interested tone, "How do you play license plate poker?"

Wyatt answered, "It works best with plates with four numbers or more, though you can count AKQ and J if you want to."

"I don't get it." Lee replied.

Wyatt continued, "You find a plate and turn it into a poker hand—obviously a flush is impossible—but you get pairs or three or four of a kind—rarely a straight. How you count who gets what plate can be a problem, though."

Amanda continued, "Yeah—I played it with friends on a car trip in college—we got into a big fight about who got what plates—so partly because of that I just decided it was better to not teach it to the boys."

"So how do you decide who gets what car?" Lee asked.

Wyatt answered, "We went in turns by age—each new car was assigned to each person in order of age—oldest to youngest."

"That's a good way," Amanda replied. "We used to call dibs but on the college trip it didn't work. People wouldn't call bad cars but everyone claimed the good ones."

"So what do you bet?" Lee asked from the back.

Wyatt answered, "We didn't bet—just kept track of who won the most often."

"On our trip it was winner gets the bed. There were 5 of us and we rented only one motel room, so someone always had to sleep on the floor. That's why people were so eager to win. Eventually we just traded off in turns sleeping on the floor."

Lee sounded puzzled, "What's the fun of poker if you don't bet?"

Amanda replied patiently, "Lee, the point of the game is to help pass the time while you're driving—not betting."

"And this is the sort of "fun" you "normal people" have?" Lee added sarcastically.

"What did your family do on car trips, sir?" Wyatt asked.

"My family didn't take car trips." Lee said with finality.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Lunch was uneventful at an I-Hop. Young stayed with the Vigilant. As there were no family reunions, it went quickly. Back on the road, Amanda and Wyatt happily chatted the afternoon away.

In the back of the RV, Lee alternately studied the manuals and brooded. 'Wyatt's just being polite because he has to. Tonight they'll get a replacement vehicle and tomorrow Amanda and I will be alone again. I wonder what she thinks of film noir—or some of those weird foreign films…'

Amanda and Wyatt laughed—interrupting Lee's thoughts.

Lee gritted his teeth and went back to the manuals. 'If this is how "normal people" pass the time—it's highly overrated.'

They arrived at the motel in the late afternoon, room assignments were made—they ate dinner and returned to the motel. Wyatt was assigned to the Vigilant overnight.

Valentiner was making plans for the evening—"Sir, ma'am—are you up for poker tonight?"

Lee was still disgruntled after the day's events and Amanda and Wyatt's easy camaraderie. "Yeah sure—I'm game. What about you, Amanda?" He asked, figuring she would not want to play—probably because she wasn't willing to risk the money.

"Oh well, I've gotta call home. Maybe after that." She replied cheerfully.

Amanda went to her room and called home just as she had the night before. Everything was still fine—the boys were doing their homework, and Dottie had called the Littman boys' grandfather and accepted his offer of a date for the following weekend. After she finished her call, Amanda rearranged her luggage and set out her clothes for the next day, as well as her nightgown and robe for the night. Then she left her room and made her way toward the end room where the poker game was in progress. A car drove up with two soldiers in it. They parked their car and knocked on the door of the room Captain Sikes was registered in. There was no answer.

Amanda came up to them, "Excuse me—are you looking for Captain Sikes?" she asked politely.

"Yes ma'am," one soldier answered.

"He's in here." She knocked on the room next door. The door opened to show Taylor, and behind him the rest of the men clustered around a small table with too many chairs crowded around it.

"Hello," Amanda announced brightly. "These guys are here to see Captain Sikes."

Sikes stood and folded his cards, putting them in his breast pocket as he came to the door. It was a tight fit, moving around the other men.

"I'm Sikes," he said.

The soldiers saluted. "Sir—we have your replacement vehicle." One soldier handed Sikes the keys.

"Very good, soldier. Show it to me."

They all went outside to inspect the car.

Amanda looked around the crowded room. Five men and six chairs were crowded around a small table by the window.

"You want to play, ma'am?" Valentiner invited her over to the empty chair.

"You guys don't have much room here." Amanda observed.

"We're managing OK, Amanda. Are you going to play or what?" Lee was impatient.

"You know, if you moved the bed over and brought another table from the next room, you'd have more room." Amanda pointed out reasonably.

The men looked at each other in surprise.

"You could even bring a third table and have room for snacks, too," she added.

The soldiers immediately stood. Two moved the bed over against the wall, another went next door and got another table. Lee offered his room key and a third table was brought over.

Sikes returned with the two soldiers. "Make room, men. These soldiers are here for the night."

"What's going on, Sikes?" Lee asked.

"The brass in their wisdom sent these soldiers with the replacement car, but they have no transport back to base. A car will come in the morning—for the night they bunk with us."

"Let's play poker!" Valentiner interjected.

"So what's the stakes here?" One soldier asked.

"Dollar ante, three dollar raise max, five dollar limit." Valentiner replied.

"Sound good to me." One soldier sat down in the empty chair.

"Amanda, you playing or not?" Lee asked.

"That's a bit rich for me. I'll just watch, if that's OK," she replied.

"Someone mentioned snacks," Young piped up.

"There's a convenience store down the block," Unwin mentioned.

Sikes took charge, "Everyone chip in five bucks," he ordered. "Young, you go get some snacks."

"I'll help," Amanda chimed in.

"That's nice, ma'am," Young replied.

Everyone forked over and Amanda and Young walked to the convenience store. Young was of average height, with brown hair and was somewhat bow-legged. He walked with a long loping stride.

"So Young, where are you from?" Amanda asked as they walked.

"Texas, ma'am. I'm just an ol' cowboy. Grew up on a ranch."

"Really! That's interesting. You do all the traditional stuff, drive cattle, rope steers, ride a horse?"  
"All that and more. There's also ridin' the fence lines and repairing fences, branding and driving the cattle to market, plus all the other chores. It was a family operation. I was the youngest son, so I decided to go into the army, because I wasn't going to inherit the ranch. I could go back after my 20 years, but maybe not. I like the army, I like being a Green Beret. Lotsa interesting action. I'm a sniper as well as a rifleman."

"So each of you guys has a specialty?" She asked.

"Yeah, we're Green Berets, which is a specialty in itself, and we also have special training in other areas. Makes life more interesting."

"I know you guys are the best of the best, but I never knew you had other specialties above and beyond that."

"You must have a specialty, bein' a spook and all."

"Oh, I'm not a spy—I assume that's what you mean by spook—I'm just a Civilian Auxiliary. I help out from time to time." Amanda explained.

"But you're Stetson's partner—isn't he a spook?"

"We're not really partners, but yes, Lee's a spook—uh, spy—no, intelligence operative. I just help out now and again when I'm needed."

"So how often are you needed?"

"I just started at the beginning of the month, but they've been keeping me pretty busy, now that you mention it. And I've also been doing clerical work, transcribing tapes and the like."

"Sounds like you've got a lot of work you can do."

"I guess so. I just hope I can keep doing it, I really need the extra money."

They had arrived at the stores. There was a liquor store next to the convenience store. "Hey, let's stop here first," Young suggested.

"I don't know…" Amanda temporized.

"C'mon, ma'am. We gotta have refreshments."

Young went into the liquor store and Amanda followed. He grabbed a large bottle of bourbon and also of rum. "These should do it."

He paid for his purchases and they went into the convenience store.

"Gotta get Coke, you like rum and Coke, ma'am?"

"I'm not much of a drinker. I'll just stick with the soft drinks." Amanda replied.

They got an assortment of snacks, dips and soft drinks in large plastic bottles. Amanda added a couple bags of M&M's, plain and peanut and a roll of paper towels. "Some sweet stuff is nice, too," she explained. "The paper towels are for napkins and cleanup."

They paid for the purchases and walked back to the motel.

"We'll need another table and more chairs," Amanda announced when they returned to the game. "We can get them from my room."

The extra furniture was obtained, and Amanda commandeered the dresser and one table and set up the food. She got glasses from the rooms for the beverages, the snacks were opened, dips set on the "poker table". Everyone got a drink for themselves, helped themselves to food, and then the men set down to playing poker in earnest.

After 9pm the game was winding down. The two soldiers—Nelson and Griggs—had gambled away all their chips, and were just enjoying the company, snacks and booze. Young had folded as soon as he saw his hand. Sikes, Taylor and Lee were in a battle to the death. Valentiner had also folded, but he was the dealer and had been managing the game all evening.

"So, who needs cards?" Valentiner asked.

"I'll take one," Lee said. He took his card and immediately folded his hand and gave the room his agent face.

Sikes watched Lee closely. "I'll take two." Sikes took his cards and sat back giving nothing away.

Taylor was silent.

"How many, Taylor?" Valentiner asked.

"I'm thinking," Taylor replied after a pause.

Sikes shifted in his chair. Lee was still.

Amanda watched from the corner. The game had been lively but nobody was giving anyone a break. There had been little chatter—these men took their poker seriously.

She would have enjoyed playing—but even though they only played for chips—the Green Berets had rules about gambling for money—the thought of money values for the chips and the intensity of the men just made it easier for her to beg off and watch the game from the corner of the room. She had been studying the men as they played. Lee played with his "agent face" on—but she was pretty sure he was bluffing with this last hand. Something about the set of his shoulders was different. Sikes was pretty good—but Taylor was an enigma. He seemed to like the challenge of playing more than the actual winning—though he won also.

Nelson and Griggs were casual players—they didn't get as many chips as the others so they didn't last long. They just seemed to be enjoying the "night off" from their usual duties. And the booze. Valentiner seemed more like a guy who planned, organized and ran the game—for him the actual playing was something that happened between the wheeling and dealing. Unwin played to be sociable and didn't seem to care much about winning and losing. Amanda noticed he kept sneaking looks at her with a wistful expression on his face. Maybe he wanted more cookies. Young was an enthusiastic player and tried hard to win, but he had trouble controlling his reactions to his cards, so he lost a lot.

"C'mon, Taylor—what do you want here?" Valentiner handled the cards in anticipation of dealing some for the impassive man.

"I might want fry bread—but I'm not gonna get it." Taylor replied dryly.

Sikes replied, "You and your fry bread. Maybe tomorrow in Oklahoma. Right now you need to decide on your cards. How many you want, Taylor?"

Sikes was impatient. Lee was silent and still through the entire exchange. Now Amanda was sure Lee was bluffing—big time. 'This could get interesting,' Amanda thought.

"OK, give me …" Taylor waited for a time to draw out the tension, "… one."

Everyone, except Lee, let out the breath they had been holding. Valentiner dealt Taylor his card.

"It's the Captain's bet," Valentiner announced.

"I bet $3," Sikes threw his chips into the middle on the sizable pile.

"Stetson?" Valentiner asked.

Lee looked Sikes directly in the eye, "I'll see you … and raise you $2."

"That's $5 to you, Taylor," Valentiner tried to keep the game moving along.

Taylor looked at his cards and thought. Then he spoke, "This is probably the last hand for the evening. You guys want to lift the limit?" He looked at Sikes and Lee.

Sikes shifted and looked at his cards. Lee looked from Taylor to Sikes.

"Sure," Lee answered, "I'm up for that. What about you, Sikes? Your hand good enough to go sky high?"

Amanda was sure Lee was taunting Sikes—but also warning him. This was interesting. She was learning a lot about Lee.

Sikes looked annoyed. He played with his cards—then threw them in. "Nope. It's up to you guys." He leaned back and relaxed to watch the contest.

"So it's $5 to you, Taylor, your bet," Valentiner said.

"$5 to me." Taylor repeated. He fingered the large pile of chips in front of him. "See your $5 and raise you … $20." He threw the chips in and looked Lee directly in the eye.

Lee was impassive. "$20, huh?" Lee looked at his pile of chips. "I have $20 here." He laid the chips on the table. "And I have another $50 on top of that." He put more chips in and resumed his impassive stare at Taylor.

Taylor was deep in thought again. Lee was still impassive. The rest of the room watched the contest as the tension rose.

Finally Taylor stirred. He fingered his piles of chips—and looked up. "I'm ahead on the evening. I don't need to know that bad. You play a good game Stetson. Even if you are a spook and a jar-head. I fold." Taylor, placed his cards on the table.

"Thanks, Taylor." Lee smiled tightly and snatched up the pile of chips in the middle of the table. Valentiner recorded the amounts for each man in a little black book, and cleaned up the chips and cards. Everyone else helped clean up and return the borrowed furniture and set the rooms to the condition they had been in before the great poker game.

Once everything was settled, Lee walked Amanda back to her room. She turned to him as she opened her door. "So, how bad was that last hand, Lee?"

"What?" He was taken aback. He looked guiltily around and pushed her into her room. He followed her in and shut the door.

"You were bluffing," Amanda continued, "good move waiting until the last hand. Did you ever have anything, or was it a bluff from the start?"

"What are you talking about, Amanda?" Lee tried a diversion.

"OK, have it your way. Pretend you don't understand. But I know you were bluffing. Pretty good too, Scarecrow!"

"A—man—da!" Lee ran his hand through his hair. "How in the hell …?" He stopped and looked at her closely. "I don't know how you guessed, but—yeah. I was bluffing from the start. How did you know? Could you see my cards?"

"I don't know. You just looked … different. I was on the other side of the room facing you, I would have to have x-ray vision to see your cards."

"How did you do it?" Lee was intrigued.

"I just watched you guys as you played. Taylor was the one I had the most trouble figuring out. Captain Sikes fidgets when he's uncomfortable. And Unwin doesn't really care about the game. He just likes being with his buddies. Everyone's different that's all." She shrugged.

"Is that right? Well remind me never to play poker with you, Amanda King." Lee shook his head and took her hand in his. "Goodnight. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Lee. Sleep well."

Lee let her hand go and went to his room. Amanda closed the door behind him.

As he lay in his bed, Lee thought about the evening. 'Amanda has to have some sort of radar. She figured out I was bluffing when none of the other guys did. And she spent the evening studying the players. She seems to be able to read people really well. She sure seems to get along well with everyone—everyone except Francine, that is. She does have good people skills. Maybe she isn't a total liability. But no way will she ever be an agent or my partner. Still, it's good to know she could be useful in certain situations—if Billy keeps making me work with her. Maybe I can get an assignment in Sweden. Inga … she sure was fantastic. And flexible. Very flexible…' He drifted off to sleep thinking of Inga.


	4. Chapter 4

Wednesday, Day Three—Little Rock, AR to Amarillo, TX

Everyone was up at 6 again, and after breakfast they were ready to leave—except the ride for Nelson and Griggs hadn't materialized. After calls to the brass a car finally appeared to transport the soldiers back to the base. Finally—shortly before 9—the convoy pulled out of Little Rock.

In the Vigilant, Lee and Amanda were alone again.

"Tomorrow I get to drive, Amanda," Lee was not even trying to persuade her to let him drive today.

"If your leg is up to it, Lee. You shouldn't push yourself if you aren't totally healed. You're just buying trouble down the road." Amanda was being sensible.

Lee wasn't having any of it, "It's just a flesh wound—no broken bones, no torn ligaments. Piece of cake. I'd drive today but you'd make such a fuss—it isn't worth the aggravation."

"Well, Mr. Melrose ordered you to rest for three days. So you'd be disobeying a direct order."

"And you'd snitch on me, right?" Lee taunted.

"Lee! I wouldn't snitch on you. But if he directly asked me… Well, I don't like to lie. And I could lose this job if I lied to the boss and he found out…"

"This isn't a regular job for you, Amanda. You should try to get something more steady. More normal."

"Last time I went on an interview you blew it for me." Amanda said wryly.

"That was a fluke—won't happen again," Lee shot back immediately.

"So you say now. But here I am—driving an RV to Arizona. That's a full week of work. I'll even be able to get the boys an Atari for Christmas. They really want one, and with this week's pay, I can afford it."

"You really do all you can for your kids." Lee was admiring.

"They're only young once. Childhood is the basis for the rest of their lives. Eventually they'll move out to live on their own—so I have to make the most of it while they're at home."

"That's what makes you a great mother."

She smiled at him, "Thank you, Lee. Could you please get me a cup of coffee?"

They spent the morning alternately in companionable silence and small talk about the trip. Lee studied the equipment manuals and read passages to Amanda—partly to explain the vehicle to her and partly to help him learn the workings better. It was all he could do short of actually trying it out—which was out of the question on the interstate.

Lunch was in Shawnee, OK. They found a small diner and Taylor got his fry bread. And Indian Tacos. Everyone tried the new and different cuisine.

The diner was run by a Native American Tribe and as they ate, Taylor told them all how he would get fry bread at home on the Rez in South Dakota.

"My grandmother made it best," he told them. "At pow-wows she would sell it and that would help the family out in hard times. This is as good as hers."

Amanda asked, "How could your grandmother's recipe end up in Oklahoma?"

Taylor smiled and shook his head. "Fry bread started after we were kicked off our lands and put in reservations—the Rez. Originally the Navajos developed it—all the government gave them for rations was flour and lard—so the women invented fry bread. Indian Tacos came later when more and better rations were available. The recipe spread and now it's sort of the universal Indian food. Fry bread and Indian Tacos are sold at all pow-wows. It's amazing, there are so many different tribes but we all eat fry bread and Indian Tacos at pow-wows. No matter where you are in the US or Canada—at any pow-wow you can get fry bread." It was the most any of them had heard Taylor say at any one time.

"Thank you for explaining that to us, "Amanda said. "I just wish my boys were here, too. They'd love these Indian Tacos."

"Yeah, they're pretty good, Taylor," Unwin said. "I thought you were just pulling our legs—but these're good food."

The waitress came to their table. "You folks got the RV?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lee answered warily.

"Better be careful. Bad weather's coming—storms, big winds. You going east or west?" She looked around the group.

"West," Amanda answered.

She shook her head. "It's coming from the south. But it's a big storm. So you drive careful. Pull off if the wind gets too strong and park under an overpass. RV's can tip in big winds. You don't want that."

"No we don't. Thank you for the warning. We appreciate the advise." Amanda was genuinely grateful. The RV handled well—for an RV. But it was still a large and sometimes unwieldy vehicle.

"Let's get moving, people." Sikes said. "We still have a long way to go today." He was tense after the "weather report".

Back on the road, the clouds were building off in the south.

"Gee Lee, It looks like a storm's building."

"Amanda—it's a long way off yet. Just keep driving. The farther we get, the better it will be." He scanned the skies—he was worried—but he didn't want Amanda to know. The Vigilant was very top-heavy with all that armament in the roof. A strong wind would tip it over. Hopefully the storm would go east or hold off until they reached Amarillo. He tried a diversion. "So, what do you like in film noir?" He asked brightly.

They chatted more about movies. As the afternoon wore on the clouds moved closer and the wind picked up. As the wind picked up, the RV became more difficult to handle. Both Lee and Amanda watched the skies as they chatted.

Suddenly the sky opened up and the rain started. The wind had picked up further and the RV was swaying.

"Lee, this is getting really bad." Amanda was fighting to keep control with the wind and rain. "I'm gonna pull off under the next overpass."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." He radioed their plans to Sikes. Lee was watching the sky—it was dark, and boiling. There was a low line of clouds—seemingly barreling straight for them. And beneath that line was a portion that was lowering menacingly. "Amanda, you might want to find that overpass really soon." Lee said.

"I'm trying but I don't see one yet." She replied as she fought to keep the RV on the road.

The lowering clouds had started to rotate. They seemed a ways off, but they were coming closer. Suddenly the rain stopped and the wind shifted.

Amanda drove holding the steering wheel with all her strength. The winds moved the RV back and forth on the road. An overpass came up a mile or so down the road. She slowed in preparation to stop.

The lowering clouds were rotating faster and a finger of grey appeared below them—a tornado. When the rain had stopped the wind had kicked up dust and debris which were being blown across the road. This made driving the RV very difficult. With the wind gusts the vehicle was pushed back and forth across the road and it rocked from side to side. Amanda was fighting the wind and trying to keep the RV on the road and not run into the ditch or the median. The dust and debris limited visibility ahead, but that was a minor problem. Amanda had to slow the RV's speed considerably to keep control and not go off the road.

Lee looked to the south—the tornado had touched down in a plowed field. Dust swirled around the funnel which seemed to be aiming straight for them.

"Amanda, we need to get to that underpass really soon. Speed it up, will ya?"

"Lee, I'm trying to keep us from crashing or running off the road or blowing over. I'm doing the best I can." She sounded somewhat exasperated.

"Well, hurry up—look, it's just up there!" He pointed to the slowly approaching overpass.

"Lee, if you keep bugging me I'll lose my concentration." Amanda was watching the road and driving the RV. She hadn't noticed the fast approaching tornado.

"Park under the overpass. Then we'll get out of the RV." Lee sounded tense—he was worried.

"What? Why?" She looked at Lee as she slowed and made for the side of the road.

"Just do it, OK?"

She pulled the RV to a stop under the overpass. She shut off the engine and Lee grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the door—they climbed up under the road into the gap where the bridge and ground met.

There was a roar like a freight train. The winds howled and swirled around and around. Lee and Amanda huddled in the gap and clung to each other. Then suddenly Taylor and Young were there also. The four of them sat tight as the tornado roared past.

In less than 15 minutes it was all over. The RV was still upright. The car Taylor and Young had been driving was parked behind it. The back window was smashed with a large board sticking out of it.

"We keep losing escort vehicles," Young said in a tired tone.

"The Vigilant looks OK," Amanda said optimistically.

"Not a scratch," Lee said dryly.

They climbed down to the road. They could hear the radio in the escort car.

Young opened the car door and answered the radio. "We're here, Captain."

"Where the hell were you? I've been calling for over 15 minutes!" Sikes sounded upset.

"We were out of the vehicle, sir." Young replied.

"And why were you out of the vehicle? Do you have the Vigilant in visual range? I can't raise Stetson at all."

"We're here, Captain," Lee answered.

"What are you doing in the escort vehicle?" Sikes seemed more upset now.

Young replied, "There was a tornado, sir. We had to abandon the vehicles and seek cover."

"A tornado?" Sikes sounded disbelieving.

"Yes sir."

"Where are you?" Sikes sounded more matter-of-fact now.

"Under an overpass, sir. Shortly after mile 56," Young replied.

"Everyone OK?" Sikes asked.

Young looked at the group, they all nodded. "Yes sir."

"Has the storm passed?"

They looked around—it had started raining again, and was still windy, but it was nowhere as bad as before the tornado had hit. "Not totally, sir—but the worst seems to be over," Taylor replied.

"Well, get back on the road. We have a ways to go yet."

"There's a problem, sir." Taylor replied calmly.

"Now what, Young?" Sikes sounded exasperated.

"Our vehicle is out of commission, sir. Back window is smashed out. Debris, sir."

There was a brief silence. "How is the Vigilant?" Sikes asked in a flat tone.

"It seems OK, sir."

"Right. You two transfer your gear to the Vigilant and ride with Stetson and Mrs. King. We'll get another escort vehicle in Amarillo."

"Yes, sir." Young replied.

"Radio me from the Vigilant once you are on the road."

"Will do, sir."

"Over and out." Sikes signed off.

They opened the door to the Vigilant. Coffee was spilled and the manuals Lee had been studying were on the floor—some soaked with coffee. Amanda grabbed the paper towels and started to clean up. Taylor grabbed the roll after her and helped.

"Looks like the RV was shaken up a bit." She said.

"Could be worse. It was a small tornado," Taylor replied.

"You call that small?" Amanda was incredulous.

"They get lots bigger, ma'am." Taylor said quietly.

It took a few minutes to clean up the Vigilant, get the gear transferred and plan out how they would be seated. In the end, Taylor and Young sat in the back—Young in the chair and Taylor on the floor, resting on their bags.

They got back to driving toward Amarillo. Lee shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His leg was hurting after the run up the embankment, pulling Amanda behind him. After an hour of driving Lee chided Amanda, "Could you drive a bit faster? We want to get there before Christmas."

"I'm doing my best here. Look, we're going up over 3000 feet today." She replied.

"What? No way!" Lee exclaimed.

"Oh yes—we looked it up on the maps on Sunday." Amanda spoke with authority.

"What? Who?" Lee was lost with the change of subject.

"In the family room. We got out the maps and traced the route from DC to Phoenix. We all were really surprised to see Amarillo was at 3600 feet. Little Rock is at 350 feet."

"So what's the big deal?" Lee was derisive.

"Lee—elevation affects vehicles and an RV is big and heavy—this thing wallows like a pig. With all the armor and weapons its super-heavy. I'm surprised we don't need to weigh in like a truck."

"Amanda, that would sort of blow our cover here." Lee sounded tired.

"I know, but I don't want a ticket for driving over weight."

Lee pinched his nose and shook his head. "The Army has taken care of all of that." He said it as if explaining it to a small child.

"Well, tomorrow it's your problem. But anyhow—we're going up over 3000 feet today—most of it between Oklahoma City and Amarillo, and its 2000 feet after we cross into Texas. This thing just doesn't like to climb hills. So it slows down. I'm sorry if we're behind schedule, but I'd like to remind you I'm doing all the driving here. You're just a passenger." Amanda's tone was tart.

"Yeah, well I'd drive if I could," Lee was petulant.

"Well, you can't. Mr. Melrose ordered you to take it easy for three days. So just relax and enjoy the ride," she shot back at him.

"Enjoy the ride?" Lee was incredulous. "I've studied those stupid manuals—which are really bad—they leave a lot out—for three days—and I'm bored. This is not my idea of fun, being stuck in this tin can for a week."

"Well it's your job this week—like its mine too and you could try to make the most of it." Amanda was peeved.

"Oh, make the most of it—like you and Wyatt playing that stupid license plate game?" Lee was sarcastic.

"It helps pass the time, Lee. So does conversation," She sounded tired now.

"Well excuuuse me if I'm not a chatty guy!" He replied a little too loudly.

Young piped up from the back "Hey you two—don't make me come up there, now."

Lee and Amanda exchanged surprised glances, and then Amanda laughed.

"OK, "dad"," she replied in a light tone, "We'll behave. Don't put us out by the side of the road." She chuckled. "Can we have ice cream if we're good?"

"What the hell?" Lee was looking defensive and confused simultaneously.

"Chill, man," Taylor spoke calmly. "You never take a car trip with the family?"

"Uh, no," Lee seemed somewhat taken aback.

Amanda got a mischievous look on her face. "Are we there yet?" she whined.

"He touched me—keep away from me!" Young chimed in.

"I want ice cream—we never stop for ice cream!" Taylor added

"I'm bored, when do we get there?"

"He's making faces at me!"

"Well he started it!"

Lee put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. "Have you all gone insane?" He shouted.

The three others all laughed.

"Lee," Amanda explained patiently, "that's how it is with a family on a car trip. Eventually there comes a point when the kids are whining and cranky and the usual complaints come out and eventually one of the parents has to stop it. But it does clear the air."

"More "normal people" stuff, huh?" Lee asked.

Young answered, "Yeah. All a part of normal American family life."

"Well, spare me the lesson in American social family dynamics. Let's just get there. I could use a hot shower and a soft bed right about now." Lee sounded petulant again.

"We're all tired and cranky, Lee. We'll get there fairly soon. Just a couple more hours or so." Amanda explained patiently.

They were all silent for a few minutes. Then Taylor spoke up. "Is he always like this, ma'am?"

"He's just not used to being cooped up and still for so long. He's more a man of action," she explained to the soldiers.

"He is right here, Amanda," Lee said tartly.

"He is being a pain in the butt—sir." Taylor replied tartly.

"Snake eater," Lee said quietly but loudly enough so it carried to the back.

"Jar-head spook," Taylor immediately retorted in a similar tone.

"You tell 'im, Taylor," Young chimed in.

"Hey fellas—just cool it, OK?" Amanda warned.

"Yes ma'am," all three replied.

They drove in silence for the rest of the day.

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With the late start and the tornado, they limped into Amarillo close to 8pm. Everyone was tired and cranky. They had a quick dinner and they went to their rooms.

Just as she was getting into bed with her book, there was a knock on Amanda's door. She checked and saw it was Lee. She put on her robe and invited him into the room.

"Hi Amanda," he greeted her. "You doing OK? That was a long day, today." His tone was mollifying—his version of an apology.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Pretty tired, but with a good night's sleep, I'll be fine in the morning." She smiled at him, in acceptance of his "apology".

"I just wanted to say, that was some good driving. Was that your first tornado?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "first and, I hope, last. You see the pictures on TV, but you don't really appreciate how big and powerful it is until you're in the middle of it."

"Yeah," he agreed, "I'd never been in a tornado either before today."

"Wow! First time for both of us." Amanda smiled at Lee. "You sure you want to drive tomorrow?"

"Hey, the storm has passed—should be a piece of cake."

"Except we go up into the mountains."

"I think I can handle it, Amanda," he said in a quiet tone and smiled back. "You get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Lee. Thank you."


	5. Chapter 5

Thursday, Day Four—Amarillo, TX to Flagstaff, AZ

At 6am they all awoke and after breakfast the replacement vehicle arrived, with escort back for the soldiers.

"For once the Army is efficient," Lee commented.

"Yeah, better not get used to it, Stetson," Captain Sikes replied dryly. "You might have to change your opinion of the Army."

"Don't worry, that'll never happen," Lee retorted.

Once on the road Lee was in a good mood—finally he got to drive after three days of frustrating inactivity. Amanda had offered to show him the console and explain the Vigilant's idiosyncrasies—but he declined. 'I don't need a housewife instructing me about driving,' he thought. 'Though she's just being nice, as usual,' he temporized to himself.

Lee drove and Amanda kept him well supplied with coffee and snacks.

As the morning wore on, Lee realized the RV was not exactly easy to drive. It did indeed "wallow like a pig" at times, had little pickup from about 30 to freeway speeds, and had a tendency to slow markedly when going uphill. Plus there were rather large blind spots on either side—which he discovered when he nearly ran Sikes off the road as he changed lanes.

The radio crackled to life. "Sikes to Vigilant. What the hell you doin' Stetson? I thought you were some sort of expert driver?"

"Hello Captain," Amanda brightly replied. "Lee's just adjusting to the RV. He's sorry."

"A—man—da!" Lee exclaimed as she clicked the microphone off.

"Lee, I tried to warn you. It's awfully big and there are blind spots. You just have to keep track of what cars are around you, that's all."

"Oh yeah—that's all."

"So, you want to talk?" she asked tentatively.

"Not right now—maybe later." He sounded tense.

"OK Lee, just let me know." she replied.

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They stopped for lunch and then got back on the road. Lee's leg was aching and his shoulders were tight from the need to control the RV on the more winding mountainous road.

By the afternoon rest stop, Lee was limping visibly. He hadn't realized how difficult the RV was to drive. He began to have more respect for Amanda. It couldn't have been easy for her—especially with the winds the previous day.

Amanda had surreptitiously watched Lee all day. They hadn't talked much—and she suspected he was finding the RV more of a handful than he had anticipated. Her shoulders and arms ached from fighting the winds on the previous day and she was glad he was driving today. 'Finally, I can just relax and watch the scenery,' she thought to herself. 'I love the Appalachians—all round and green. The Rocky Mountains are more brown, yellow and russet and not rounded at all. I wish we could stop at some of these interesting places. The petrified forest and meteor crater sound like the best. I'm glad I was able to get some nice rocks for the boys at lunch in Albuquerque. Petrified wood is so colorful. They'll like that. I got myself a book of postcards, too. Maybe someday we can take a vacation and see those places in person.' She sighed.

'This trip has been interesting and frustrating, too. Watching Lee bluff at cards the other night was very interesting. He has certainly learned to control his face—and most everything else, but he still gives it away in little ways. He'd have more fun if he wasn't so impatient and stubborn. I know his leg is hurting. He was limping at lunch but trying to hide it. He's overdoing it with that bullet would—but his stubborn male ego won't let him admit it. So he is just hurting himself some more.' She shook her head. 'If he doesn't start taking better care of himself he could end up dead. Of course, I can't tell him that. I guess I'll just have to try to do it for him. Tomorrow is the test at the proving grounds. I'll suggest that I drive since we'll drive directly to the test. He can maybe sit in the back and check out the controls.'

'Flagstaff to Phoenix is a scenic road—but it will be tough in the RV. Still, it isn't that long—but we go down over 6000 feet. I hope the brakes are in good shape. I can use low gear, too. I'll manage—I always do somehow.'

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They arrived in Flagstaff on time after the day's driving. Lee was very glad the day was over. His wound was hurting again and he looked forward to taking some pain pills with dinner. His shoulders ached from wrestling the RV on the more winding mountain roads.

At dinner, Valentiner tried to arrange another poker game. Lee begged off. He planned to take a long hot shower, and then read or watch TV.

Amanda noticed Lee was visibly limping and how quiet and subdued he was. She also saw the pain pills he surreptitiously took with his dinner. 'He's hurting pretty bad. Maybe I should offer to rub his neck and shoulders. Or would that be too forward? I never know how he'll react. Better not, and be safe.'

They went back to their motel. Lee took a long hot shower and tried to work the kinks out of his neck and shoulders. The pain pills were finally kicking in and he was more relaxed. He put on sweats and a robe—got out a book and turned on the TV.

After she had made her nightly call home, Amanda heard the TV go on in Lee's room and decided to go on over. Lee opened his door and invited her inside.

"How are you doing?" Amanda asked him, "I noticed you took a couple of your pain pills at dinner."

"You noticed that, huh?" Lee wasn't really surprised. He had come to realize that Amanda was very observant in a quiet unobtrusive way. "I took a long hot shower, and the pills finally kicked in, so I feel a lot better."

"That's good." She moved to the chair and picked up Lee's book. "So what are you reading? Andersonville. Didn't that win the Pulitzer?"

"Yeah. It's pretty gruesome, but it was a gruesome reality in the prison camp."

"You a Civil War buff?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. I try to visit the battlefields when I have the time."

"I've taken the boys to a few myself."

Lee pointed to the TV and the ad which was on "Hey, Stagecoach will be on in a few minutes."

"That's a good one." Amanda replied.

"Wanna stay and watch it with me?" he invited.

"Sure—should I get us some snacks?"

"That would be great!"

Amanda got sodas and snacks from the motel vending machines. They watched the movie together, Lee sitting on the bed with the pillows behind him and Amanda in the comfy chair. They commented during the commercials and had a pleasant evening.

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While Lee and Amanda were watching their movie, the soldiers were playing poker. Sikes was in the Vigilant for the night.

"Last day on this assignment tomorrow," Young said.

Taylor replied, "I'll be glad to get something with some action."

"Yeah" Unwin said, "but I'll miss Mrs. King. She's a real nice lady." He thought wistfully of the cookies, and Amanda's trim figure.

Wyatt chimed in, "Yeah, those cookies were great. She sure seems to put up with a lot from Stetson."

"Stetson's a jerk," Young said.

"He plays poker well," Valentiner interjected.

The others all looked at him.

"But yeah, he's a jerk," Valentiner added.

"Are all spooks jerks like him?" Wyatt asked.

"He's the first spook I've met," Young said.

"That you know of," Taylor added.

"So, is Mrs. King a spook? Because she's not a jerk at all. She's nice," Unwin said.

"You got a thing for her, Unwin?" Young chided him.

Unwin blushed. "She's just really nice, OK?"

"But she's really pretty, too," Valentiner added. "Great legs. Wouldn't mind getting to know her a bit better."

"Well, well, well—Valentiner has noticed something besides the cards." Young teased.

"Oh I notice—I just don't talk about it all the time." Valentiner was not fazed.

"One person who doesn't notice is Stetson," Taylor said.

"What's with that guy, anyhow?" Wyatt asked.

"He's a hotshot. He's used to being in charge or working solo," Young observed.

"But Cap'n Sikes said they're partners," Unwin added.

"Except she said they aren't partners—she just helps out from time to time." Taylor said.

"Your radar ears pick that up?" Valentiner asked.

"She said it when Sikes came to her door. Nice house," Taylor mused.

"So are they partners or not?" Wyatt asked.

"Let's ask the Captain." Valentiner cranked up the radio they had brought into the room. "Captain Sikes, you there sir?"

"Sikes here. What's up Valentiner?"

"We're wondering, sir. Are Stetson and Mrs. King partners or what?"

"You guys got nothing better to do?" Sikes was surprised.

"We're just feeling sorry for Mrs. King—Stetson is a real jerk—and he isn't very nice to her, sir." Unwin explained.

"Unwin's soft on her," Young said.

"She's a lady—he's a jerk," Sikes said.

"So are they partners? What's the deal, sir?" Wyatt asked.

"Their boss, Mr. Melrose said he considers them partners but they're still getting used to it. They haven't worked together very long—since the start of the month. He said to expect a bit of resistance from Stetson, and to ignore it." Sikes answered.

"She's pretty patient with him. But she doesn't put up with his crap, either, sir," Wyatt said.

"She puts up with a hell of a lot more than I would," Sikes said. "So you got your answer—anything else? Do I need to tuck you guys in—or maybe I should have Mrs. King do it."

"I'd take you up on that, sir," Valentiner replied, "but I don't think Mrs. King would agree."

"Sikes out."

Valentiner stowed the radio. "So they're partners, but they don't know it? Sounds like that Melrose guy is trying to pull a fast one."

"Yeah, on Stetson," Taylor said with a smile.

They all chuckled.

"That poor Mrs. King—she's in for a rough ride," Unwin observed.

"So what do you want to do—marry her?" Young shot back.

"No—she'd never have a guy like me," Unwin said sadly.

"She's only got eyes for Stetson," Taylor said.

"What?" Young asked.

"Open your eyes Young, instead of your mouth for once." Taylor retorted.

"You're playin' inscrutable Indian again?" Young asked.

"Just keepin' my eyes open, cowboy." Taylor retorted.

"I agree with Taylor," Wyatt said. "She wants to be around him most of the time."

"Except when he's being a jerk," Young said.

"Sometimes then, too," Taylor added quietly.

"Sounds like she's sweet on him," Unwin said sadly.

"I think it's a lot more complicated than that," Taylor said.

"Yeah," Valentiner added. "He's a goner—only he doesn't know it yet."

"Couldn't happen to a better guy," Taylor chuckled.

They all had a laugh at Lee's expense.

"So are we gonna do something for Mrs. King?" Unwin asked.

"You wanna get her a present?" Young asked sarcastically.

"That's a good idea—something pretty for her house," Valentiner said.

"She was looking at some of the pottery at the restaurant yesterday," Taylor said.

"Where do we get some, then?" Wyatt asked.

"You kiddin'?" Valentiner said. "It's all over the place out here."

"You volunteerin'?" Young asked.

"Sure, why not. Chip in, you guys." Valentiner collected $25 and they decided he would pick up something nice for Amanda during their drive tomorrow.

"We'll make sure I'm not with Sikes," Valentiner said, "and we'll get ahead—then stop somewhere and get her something nice."

"Let's give it to her at lunch," Unwin said. "They'll hit the proving grounds after that and our mission's over then."

"Yeah, but I bet the Captain will want to watch the test. He wants to see if Stetson is the big hotshot he claims to be," Taylor said.

"I'd like to see that, too," Wyatt said. "I heard about it from one of the guys chasing it on Sunday. He said it was pretty tough to beat—and they weren't even using lethal force."

"You just want to see the new armament," Young said.

"Sure—what's wrong with that?" Wyatt replied.

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When the movie was over, Amanda cleaned up the remains of their movie snacks. "Are you feeling better?" she asked. "Will you be able to sleep?" She was still worried Lee had overexerted himself with the driving.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," he answered. "The pills sure help." He paused a few seconds in thought. "Y'know, maybe—well—tomorrow is the last day—we drive to the proving grounds and complete the test—maybe you should drive. It's only a short drive to the proving grounds anyhow."

"You can spend the morning with the controls—planning what you will do during the mock attack," Amanda added helpfully.

"Yeah—it's pretty easy to operate—I found that out on Sunday—but I'd like to have more of a plan this time."

"Do I need to plan? Y'know, like where to drive or what to avoid or stuff like that?" Amanda was somewhat nervous about the test.

"Let me think about it. We can talk about it tomorrow. We drive in the morning—have lunch and then go to the test."

"OK. Sleep well, Lee. See you in the morning."

"See you in the morning, Amanda."


	6. Chapter 6

Friday, Day Five—Flagstaff, AZ to Yuma Proving Grounds

Friday morning everyone was up at 6am as usual. At breakfast, Lee noticed the soldiers were very solicitous of Amanda—especially Unwin and Taylor. Unwin followed her with puppy-dog eyes. Lee figured he had a crush on Amanda. Must be the cookies, he thought.

Amanda just thought the guys were being nice. "Gee, this is the end of our trip—after lunch we go to—our destination and you guys go off to do whatever it is you'll do next," she said.

"Actually, we'll tag along with you to your destination," Sikes said to her. "I'd like to see how that RV operates." Sikes looked Lee in the eye.

"It will "operate" just fine—you'll see," Lee said—he recognized a challenge when he saw it.

"I've heard they have a few surprises in store for you, Stetson," Sikes goaded.

"Is that so?" Lee was cool and supremely confident.

Amanda decided to end the testosterone contest. "This has certainly been an interesting trip," she said, changing the subject.

"Especially the tornado," Taylor took up the thread Amanda had thrown out.

"Yeah, though once is enough for me," Amanda said shakily.

"Let's get this show on the road," Sikes announced to the group.

Once on the road, Amanda and Lee plotted strategy.

"Lee, what can we expect for the test?" she asked—she was worried it would be more than she could handle.

"Probably something similar to what we went through on Sunday. I expect they'll brief us and give us our objective. We'll drive in and encounter resistance—and we'll have to get through that and gain our objective." Lee was matter-of-fact about it.

"Will we have to shoot at people?"

Lee shook his head, "I'll be doing the shooting, you'll be driving."

"Yeah, but will anyone get hurt?"

Lee sighed. "Amanda, it's a war game. Generally we don't shoot up our own guys."

"But I remember reading about some soldiers being hurt during some war games a couple years back."

"Accidents do happen—but they won't today."

"Lee—I don't want to hurt anyone."

Lee rubbed his eyes, "Amanda—you just drive—it will be OK." He tried to sound reassuring.

She sighed, "I hope so."

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Valentiner and Taylor ended up together and were in the lead vehicle. They stopped and got an elaborate piece of Navajo pottery for Amanda. It was a vase about six inches high, multi-colored and etched with geometric designs and was signed by the artist. They had it wrapped in a nice box with good padding and–on Unwin's suggestion—got a thank you card for her.

"We'll all sign it and then give it to her at lunch," Valentiner said.

"This should give her something nice so she can remember the trip," Taylor said.

"You think she'll stick with that jerk, Stetson?"

"She's more stubborn and determined than he is. And she knows how to handle his crap. She seems determined to stick with him," Taylor shook his head.

"She could do so much better," Valentiner replied sadly.

"I hope that Melrose guy knows what he's doing," Taylor said darkly.

"Not our problem, man," Valentiner ended the conversation.

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As the morning wore on, Amanda was coping with the drop in elevation. At first it was manageable—but soon she had to shift into second, and then low gear as she navigated a stretch where the altitude dropped over 3000 feet into a broad valley. It was beautiful but the winding road and elevation drop necessitated her attention on the road and not the scenery. She noticed several "wild truck" ramps and hoped the RV's brakes and transmission held. Otherwise, that would be them and then they would miss the test.

Going back up out of the valley, the RV was slow, but ran OK. Just past the top they all stopped at a gas station.

After her rest stop, Sikes took Amanda aside and asked her about the RV's handling.

"Well, it's really slow going up hills—it's so heavy. Downhill it's a bit scary in places—but the brakes and transmission seem to be holding OK. I've been using the low gears a lot," she told him.

"That last stretch was the worst," Sikes reassured her.

"That's good," Amanda was relieved.

"How are you holding out?"

"Oh it's OK. I'm doing fine," she smiled at his consideration.

"No really—Stetson leaving you alone?" Sikes was concerned for her.

"Huh?" Amanda was puzzled.

"He giving you a hard time, or anything?" Sikes clarified.

"Oh no. Lee has been pretty mellow all week—considering." She smiled reassuringly.

"If that's mellow, I don't want to see him riled up." Sikes growled.

"Well, he was shot on Sunday and he couldn't drive for three days and then I think he overdid it a bit driving yesterday—but we're both looking forward to the test." She finished brightly.

Sikes shook his head. "You're a saint to put up with that guy."

"He would say he has to put up with me, so I guess it evens out," she replied pragmatically, with a shrug.

Sikes leaned in conspiratorially, "I wanted to give you a heads up—the guys got together last night and will have a little something for you at lunch. You made a big impression on them."

Amanda was touched, "Oh, that's so sweet—I didn't do anything—really."

Sikes shook his head again, "And that's what makes you a real lady. Oh—I'm not supposed to know—but I overheard them talking about it earlier."

"Will they be in trouble?" Amanda was concerned.

Sikes smiled, "Maybe I'll chew them out a bit—but nothing they haven't dealt with before."

"Amanda!" Lee called out from the door of the RV. "You ready? We've got to keep moving here!"

She called back "OK Lee, I'll be right there!"

Sikes had more to say, "Ma'am, I just want to say it's been a privilege guarding you this week. Your partner is a jerk, but you're a real lady."

"Thank you, Captain, you're sweet to say that. Except Lee and I aren't partners—I just help out from time to time."

"Whatever you say, ma'am."

Amanda went back to the RV.

In the RV Lee was suspicious of the Captain. "What did Sikes want, Amanda?"

"Oh he just wanted to know how the RV was handling going down the mountains."

"You're doing fine—you know how to use the lower gears—I've been watching and you did just fine. Did he give you a hard time?" Lee was being protective of her.

Amanda smiled. 'He does watch out for me. Now if he could just have some better manners…' she thought. "No Lee," she replied. "He was very nice. He said it was a privilege guarding us this week."

"Really?" Lee was skeptical. "What did he actually say—tell me straight."

Amanda grinned. "He said I was a lady…" she paused for effect, "and you were a jerk."

Lee chuckled, "That sounds more like it. Sikes is lucky I don't report him for the breach of security that first day."

"Lee, he was just trying to be nice to his men," Amanda temporized.

"Nice can get you killed if you are careless."

"But nothing happened, Lee. We're almost there."

"Yeah, which is why I won't report him."

There were more wild truck ramps before they hit Phoenix—but Sikes had been right—it was easier than it had been earlier.

They stopped for lunch in Quartzsite, at a small diner off the interstate. There were two Army personnel inside waiting for them at a large table, a Colonel and his driver.

Sikes and his men saluted, and the Colonel saluted back. "At ease, men. Be seated." He indicated to Lee and Amanda to sit next to him. Lee sat next to the Colonel and Amanda sat next to Lee. The rest of the men sat also.

"We'll eat first, then we'll confer." The Colonel said.

They all ordered and ate their lunch. Once the dishes had been cleared the Colonel handed two folders to Lee. Lee glanced at them and handed one to Amanda—they were identical.

"Stetson, Mrs. King, this is your objective," the Colonel explained. "You will drive the vehicle south on 95. There is a road into the proving grounds. We'll have an escort to get you to the start of the test. There is a road that will take you to your objective, and then you will attack. You may or may not encounter resistance. How you deal with any resistance or any obstacles is up to you. This is a live-fire exercise—but all army personnel will be adequately protected."

"Oh good," Amanda said. Lee shot her a look. She looked back down at her folder.

"We'll give you some time to study your packets and plan strategy. Then we'll pull out." The Colonel stood.

"Thank you, Colonel," Lee stood as well.

"I'll see you at the objective. I'm observing." The Colonel saluted the soldiers, and turned and left with his driver.

"Let's get back to the RV so we can read and plan strategy, Amanda." Lee was anxious to get started.

"Hold on, sir, ma'am, if you can," Taylor stopped Lee.

"What's up, Taylor?" Lee asked.

The soldiers surrounded Amanda. Sikes stepped back and pulled Lee back also. Lee looked puzzled.

"Ma'am," Unwin said, "we just wanted to give you a little something to remember your trip by. So we all chipped in and got this for you." He thrust a box into Amanda's hands.

"Oh you guys! That's so sweet—but I'll remember you all without any gift. You're a pretty memorable bunch of guys. I'd never really gotten to know any Green Berets before this week. I can believe you are the best of the best." She smiled at the soldiers.

"Open it, ma'am," Taylor urged.

Amanda sat and pulled out the card—she read it. "You guys are very sweet. Thank you." She opened the box carefully. She pulled the vase out of the box and unwrapped the packing. "Oh my gosh! This is too much…" she was overwhelmed.

"Ma'am, just take it. We don't have any use for it and we can't return it," Valentiner said.

"It's Navajo work. To help you remember where fry bread and Indian Tacos came from, "Taylor said.

Amanda placed the vase carefully on the table and threw her arms around Taylor.

"I'll always remember you guys!" She hugged each of the men in turn. Unwin hugged back a little too long and Lee was wondering if he needed to intervene. The she hugged Valentiner, and he pulled her into an embrace and kissed her soundly. Now Lee was angry.

"Hey, watch it, soldier," Lee warned menacingly.

Amanda looked surprised. Valentiner was smug. Unwin looked lost and sad.

Valentiner spoke, "Been wondering what that would be like, ma'am. You sure didn't disappoint." He seemed pleased with himself.

Lee grabbed Amanda's shoulders and pulled her away from Valentiner. "Keep away from her, soldier!" he said threateningly.

"Lee?" Amanda was surprised and pulled herself out of his grasp. "It's OK. You don't need to protect me here," she said calmly.

"Cool it, Stetson," Sikes said. "The lady's not upset—so just back off." Sikes came and hugged Amanda also. "Thank you, ma'am for making this assignment more enjoyable. Even if your partner is a jerk."

"We're not partners," Lee and Amanda said in unison.

"Doesn't seem like that to me," Taylor replied dryly.

Amanda put her hand on Lee's arm, and he swallowed his sharp reply.

"Thank you all for the lovely gift—and for accompanying us this week. It's been fun." She smiled again at them all.

"Yeah" Lee said warily, "it's been … interesting…"

"You guys got time to study and plan your attack. Better get to it." Sikes said.

Amanda re-wrapped her vase in the packing material and put it carefully back in the box. Then they all went out to their vehicles.

They gassed up and Lee and Amanda sat in the Vigilant and read their files. After a while, Lee spoke, "It looks pretty straightforward, Amanda. We go in—follow the road to their town and attack."

Amanda was studying the map they had been given.

"Lee?" she questioned.

"What?"

"This map—it shows terrain and elevations."

"Yeah, so?"

"Do we have to follow the road?" she asked.

Lee looked up at her, "What are you getting at?"

She spread out the map on the floor and they looked at it together. "Look here," she said, "the road winds around a lot and there are a couple of places where it narrows between high bluffs or hills or something."

"Yeah, I see that—nice place for an ambush." Lee observed.

"But look here," she followed a dry wash with her finger, "this is flat and it winds out of the way—it isn't the road—but it could get us to the town—it would take longer and we'd come in on the back side…"

"Yes we would," Lee said positively. "Look again—is this test being timed—anything say anything about achieving our objective within a certain time frame?"

They both went over their files again quickly.

"I don't see anything like that," she said after a few minutes.

"Me either. Amanda—I think you've got a great idea there. This thing is supposed to handle rough terrain. The worst we can do is to get stuck in the sand—but it's a wash so it should be pretty hard—except for the banks."

"I'm willing to try it—and I'm driving," she said hopefully.

"It will depend on where they start us."

"But there are a couple places—here and here—we can go off the road to get to the wash. And right here, the road and the wash cross."

Lee nodded. "We'll plan to go off the road there. If we can't go there, we'll try for one of those other places later."

"Sounds like a plan," she said enthusiastically.

"Sure does," he matched her enthusiasm. "You ready for this?"

"Oh yeah. I've had four days of practice—five really because Sunday was pretty exciting and challenging, too. How about you?"

"No problem. I'll be glad to get it over and get back to DC. This weird road trip is a bit too normal for me. Not that I haven't appreciated the lessons in American Family Dynamics," Lee chided her.

"No parties, no nightclubs, no girlfriends, huh?"

"You and Valentiner sure looked friendly back there."

She blushed. "He was just saying thank you for the cookies, Lee."

"If you really believe that, Amanda…" Lee warned.

"Well, I'll never see him again after today, so it doesn't matter," she said dismissively.

"Amanda, you've gotta watch out for these opportunistic types These soldiers only want one thing—then they're off to their next mission." Lee was trying to be protective.

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience…" she arched her eyebrows at him.

"A—man—da! I'm just trying to make sure they don't take advantage of your good nature. You're too nice for your own good, sometimes."

"You ate the cookies too, Lee." She replied quietly.

"That's different …" He seemed at a loss for words. "We've gotta get going. Let's make one last pit stop before we go."

Amanda wasn't fooled at all. "OK Lee, whatever you say," she said—quietly laughing at him inside.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

They drove south on 95 until they stopped at a road block inside the proving grounds. A Lieutenant and several soldiers were waiting for them in jeeps at the junction of two roads. They all stopped and got out of their vehicles.

The Lieutenant saluted Sikes, who saluted back. He addressed Lee and Amanda. "Sir, ma'am—this is the start of the test. You'll take that road," he pointed to the left-hand fork, "to the objective."

"Sir," he addressed Sikes, "You and your men will take that road," he pointed to the right fork, "to the observation area. Good luck."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Lee replied. "See you around, Sikes." Lee held his hand out to the Captain.

"Yeah—see you, Stetson." They shook hands.

"Goodbye fellas. Thanks for everything," Amanda said to the Green Berets.

"Thank you, ma'am," they replied.

Lee and Amanda got back into the Vigilant.

"Let's get going, Amanda. I'm anxious to see that Colonel's face when we come in from a totally different direction and trash his town."

"OK Lee."

They took off down the road—Lee carefully watching the map and matching the terrain. When the road crossed the wash, they turned off and proceeded along Amanda's "secret" route. When they were more than half-way to the town, their radio crackled to life.

"Attack force to Vigilant."

"Vigilant here," Lee responded.

"Are you proceeding toward objective?"

"Yes, attack force."

"Are you experiencing mechanical trouble?"

"No, attack force—all systems are A-OK."

There was a pregnant silence on the radio.

"Where are you, Vigilant?"

"We're proceeding toward objective. Vigilant out!"

Lee and Amanda laughed at the consternation of the attack force.

"I guess they planned an ambush and are wondering why we didn't show up," Lee said.

"Too bad, they'll have to wait a bit longer," Amanda replied.

A few miles later Amanda pointed to a shape on a distant hill.

"Look Lee, is that a tank over there?"

He peered through the binoculars. "Yes it is, but they're facing the wrong way to see us." He checked the map. "The town is just beyond that hill there. Wanna have some fun?"

"What do you have in mind?" she asked warily.

"A missle up their butt. We have three—we can afford to use one here—just for fun." Lee was gleeful.

"Don't hurt anybody, Lee." Amanda warned.

She kept driving slowly. Lee went back and armed the Vigilant's missile systems. He entered the tank's coordinates and primed the system—then launched the missile. It hit just short of the tank and exploded behind it in a ball of fire.

"Take that, you guys!" Lee shouted in triumph.

"Heads up, Lee. We're heading into town."

They drove into the back of the town, Lee firing and Amanda driving. They shot up several buildings—one of which exploded nicely.

"They must've had explosives placed inside," Lee said.

Two tanks came at them from the other side of the town, firing guns—but they were a ways away and their fire was ineffectual. Lee managed to use his two remaining missiles and demolished their objective—a brick building in the center of the town. Then he fired the guns on the tanks just for good measure.

The tanks stopped and the radio crackled to life. "Congratulations Vigilant—victory to you."

"Thank you, sir," Amanda replied.

"We did it, Amanda!" Lee shouted.

"I knew we could," she replied.

Lee moved up to the passenger seat and grabbed her hands. "Your little detour did the trick!"

"Thank you, Lee. I just didn't want anyone to get hurt, that's all."

Lee smiled at her and shook his head. "Only you, Amanda. Only you."

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Back at the command and observation area, Lee and Amanda got out of the Vigilant to see the Army brass, Sikes and his men and Billy Melrose.

"Sir!" Amanda was taken aback. "I didn't know you'd be here!" She was embarrassed.

"When my people are key players in a major weapons test, I like to be around to see their work. I missed the last time, and I didn't want to miss out on this one." Billy explained.

The Colonel stepped forward and saluted Lee and Amanda. "Sir, ma'am. Congratulations. We'll meet and discuss the action. Then you'll be escorted to the air strip and flown back to DC."

Lee did most of the explaining—showing them the map and how the dry wash got them to the back end of town—and thereby avoided the ambush the Army had planned at the two points the road passed between bluffs.

"That was a good plan, Stetson," the Colonel remarked.

"It was Amanda's idea," Lee said.

Amanda looked surprised. She didn't expect him to credit her so easily.

"She didn't like the idea of anyone getting hurt," Lee explained with a smile.

"Well whatever the reason," Billy said, "it was a good plan." He smiled at Amanda.

"Thank you, sir." Amanda smiled shyly back.

"Yes, you've both earned your bonus," the Colonel said.

"Bonus?" Amanda asked.

"The Army is awarding you each a bonus of $500 for successfully completing the mission."

"Wow! Thank you sir!" Amanda was overwhelmed.

They spent several more hours discussing the test and the drive from DC to Yuma. The Army personnel were especially interested in Amanda's account of how the Vigilant handled and wanted to know if there was anything that might help make it easier to operate.

"Cruise control would help," she replied.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Late in the afternoon, Lee, Amanda and Billy were driven to a nearby Air Force Base and they boarded a KC135 tanker bound for DC.

"You'll be home after dinner, Amanda," Billy said.

"That's great, sir," she replied. "It's been a fun week but I really missed my family. It will be good to get back home. And Lee will be able to get back to his parties, nightclubs and girlfriends."

"Hmmm?" Lee looked up from one of his black books. He had been contemplating his weekend and who he could call on short notice on a Friday night.

At the base near DC there were two Agency cars waiting for them. Billy escorted Amanda to one and helped her with her luggage. "The driver will get you home, Amanda. Thank you for your good work this week. I know it couldn't have been easy on you." Billy said by way of apology.

"Oh it was fun, sir. The soldiers were very nice and they even gave me a gift," she said brightly.

"Amanda," Lee piped up, "they were just trying to make points with you."

She chuckled and confided quietly to Mr. Melrose, "Lee's peeved because they said he was a jerk."

Billy stifled a laugh. "Well, was Scarecrow being a jerk?"

"He was cranky now and again—but mostly it was OK." She replied quietly.

"I trust you'll be available should we need your services again, Mrs. King?" Billy asked.

"Of course, sir. I was surprised. Nobody tried to shoot at us—well except for the war game but that was planned. The worst we encountered was the tornado. But that was pretty scary," she said earnestly.

"I think I can safely say you won't have to worry too much about tornadoes in the future." Billy was reassuring.

"Thank you, sir." She called out to Lee by the other car, "Goodbye, Lee. Have a nice weekend!" she smiled and waved brightly at him.

"Yeah, you too. See you around, Amanda." Lee got into the other car.

Billy had an idea. "Can you come in Monday to fill out your mileage sheets? I might also have some clerical work for you."

"Of course, sir. I'd be happy to help out in any way I can," she said.

"Have a good weekend—we'll see you Monday." Billy waved as he went to the other car.

"See you Monday, sir." Amanda got into the car and it drove off to take her home.

Billy got into the other car with Lee.

"Well Scarecrow, you and Mrs. King made a pretty good team this week."

"Can it, Billy. I'll admit her idea of taking the detour to the town was good—but otherwise it was a long week. Six Green Berets and Amanda King." Lee shook his head.

"Well your country appreciates your sacrifice," Billy smiled. But he knew Scarecrow and Mrs. King were now permanent partners as far as he was concerned. And it couldn't be better in his eyes.

"Say Billy," Lee asked casually, "are there any open assignments in Sweden?"


	7. Chapter 7

A few days after Lee and Amanda returned from Arizona, Billy Melrose—section chief of the field unit at the Agency—read a report sent to him through secure channels. It was from Captain George W. Sikes—the CO of the Green Beret squad that had the security detail with the Vigilant. Billy had requested an unofficial report on his observations of the unlikely partners during their road trip with the Vigilant to Arizona. Billy wished he could have been an invisible observer—but failing that this was the next best thing. He settled in to enjoy this.

To: William Melrose, Agency

From: Captain George Washington Sikes, US Army Green Berets

Subject: Vigilant detail

My team was assigned the security detail escorting the Vigilant from Washington D.C. to the Army Proving Grounds near Yuma, Arizona. I chose half of my squad to accompany the vehicle, in three civilian cars.

Valentiner, specialist in communications

Taylor, specialist in hand-to-hand combat and psychological warfare

Unwin, specialist in survival skills

Wyatt, specialist in explosives and demolitions

Young, specialist in transportation

The rest of my squad remained in barracks for the duration of the assignment.

We took charge of the vehicle after it had been cleaned and readied for the trip at 0300 Monday morning. We deployed, and proceeded to pick up one of the personnel, agent codename Scarecrow, AKA Lee Stetson from his Georgetown apartment at 0500. Agent Scarecrow was not ready, and we waited for 15 minutes while he gathered his gear. At 0600 we arrived at 4247 Maplewood Drive, where we picked up the other agent, Mrs. Amanda King. Mrs. King met me at the door before I could ring the bell. She had prepared cookies for all the personnel, and proceeded to distribute them to my men in the cars. This was a kind gesture greatly appreciated by myself and my men.

Agent Scarecrow was agitated and impatient to leave. I made sure Mrs. King was thoroughly familiarized with the Vigilant, and comfortable before I returned to my car.

At the first rest stop, Mrs. King made a point of introducing herself and her partner to the men. She did not seem intimidated or put off which my men found intriguing. She was actually trying to be friendly. That and the cookies made points.

At lunch, at The Buck—a café owned by Unwin's aunt who raised him after his mother died—Mrs. King made sure Valentiner—who had been ordered to guard the Vigilant while the rest of us ate—had a good meal, giving him the picnic lunch she had packed for herself and her partner. Apparently, her partner hadn't briefed her on the protocol for a trip like this, and she hadn't known rest and meal stops were planned. During the lunch, Mrs. King ate little, but I learned she never ate a lot. Agent Scarecrow was mostly silent during the meal, which I was to learn was uncharacteristic. Mrs. King tried to learn a bit about each of the men, and was touched by the gesture of stopping by Unwin's aunt. Scarecrow did not seem touched by it, in the least. However, he did not mention the breach of protocol. I found that strange.

That evening, Valentiner tried to get them to participate in the poker game—the unit has a more-or-less constant poker game during free time—but both your personnel declined.

Stetson escorted Mrs. King to her room, then went to his for lights out.

Morning of Day two, we assembled at 0630 for breakfast. Stetson just drank coffee, and Mrs. King tried to get him to eat more—which he declined in an abrupt manner. She took it in stride—but I was surprised she put up with that sort of behavior.

We had car troubles during the morning, and Wyatt ended up riding with the Vigilant for the rest of the day. Wyatt reported he and Mrs. King had a good time talking about themselves and general topics. He also reported Scarecrow didn't know much about family life or car trips. He didn't know about the license plate game or license plate poker. Wyatt thought that was strange, as do I. Where was this guy raised? Again, Mrs. King put up with his guff far more than he deserved. Stetson is very protective of his partner, always making sure he's with her if she's around my men. She seems to not notice. My men noticed right away.

That evening, Stetson decided to play poker. Mrs. King declined, first saying she had to call home, and then later, she said she just wanted to watch. Stetson seemed peeved at her. Mrs. King suggested snacks, and helped Young buy them, then organized things and made sure everyone got snacks and drinks while we all played. She seemed happy to be doing that. She also seemed to be observing the men as we all played. Taylor noticed she was paying close attention to each man in turn, seeming to try to figure each one out. He thinks she'd make a good psychological warfare operative. Stetson is one hell of a poker player—he doesn't give anything away, and he managed to bluff (I think), Taylor our psych expert.

After the game broke up, Stetson escorted Mrs. King to her room, and spent a few minutes inside with her. Then he went to his own room.

Day Three we got off to a late start, as the vehicle to return the soldiers who had brought the replacement vehicle was delayed. Stetson was cranky and irritable, as Mrs. King characterized it. Mrs. King just took in stride and chatted with the men, when Stetson allowed her. He kept her close, and tried to scare the men off, which made the men try to talk to her just to get him. He wasn't popular at all with my men. Mrs. King was universally loved. At lunch we all finally ate Taylor's fry bread—he's from the rez, and always goes on about it—and Mrs. King was again delightful and gracious. She managed to get Taylor talking about himself and his family—something we hadn't heard before. She certainly has a way with people and even Taylor—our inscrutable Indian—opened up around her. She has a gift with making people feel comfortable and getting them to open up. That's a skill that you could exploit.

After lunch, the weather got bad, and the Vigilant was almost caught up in a tornado. They managed to pull over under an overpass. Taylor and Young were following, and it was a close thing. They saw Stetson come bombing out of the vehicle dragging Mrs. King after him, and they sheltered where the bridge met the ground. Stetson wrapped himself around his partner, to protect her from the storm. Once the storm had passed, they went back to the vehicles. The Vigilant was unharmed, but we lost another chase vehicle, so Taylor and Young moved to the Vigilant and rode with them for the rest of the day. They tried chatting, but Stetson wasn't cooperating. Taylor suspects he had injured himself dragging her to shelter. Mrs. King tried kidding Stetson, but he wasn't having any of it. Does that guy even have a sense of humor? Then Stetson started giving her a hard time, but Mrs. King didn't let it get to her—she gave it back to him as good or better than he dished it out. She does know how to handle the guy, which is a good thing as my guys were ready to deck him for her. Taylor, Young and Stetson got into it verbally, and she shut them all down fast. She's one tough lady. She has the respect of me and all my men. Stetson is a jerk.

That night, everyone was tired and rolled in late. Stetson went to his room, she went to her room, and we all sacked out.

Day Four, Stetson drove, and he was quiet for most of the day. I think it was more than he had been expecting. He was limping at lunch, and limped for the rest of the day. He tried to hide it, but Taylor saw him taking his pain pills again at dinner. After dinner Stetson went to his room, and later she joined him. She went for snacks at the vending machines, and then the guys said they watched a movie and talked. They just wanted to make sure Stetson was treating her right. Then she went back to her room and slept. The men decided to get Mrs. King a gift to remember them by. It was a nice gesture, and a mark of how much she impressed my men that they went to the time and trouble to do that for her. Also of how much they thought Stetson was a jerk.

Day five, Mrs. King was driving again—which lost Wyatt, Young and Unwin a few bucks. They thought Stetson would drive again for sure. She sure has Stetson under control. Taylor says she's a natural at psych ops. She manages him without his knowing it. At the rest stop, he was being protective of her again. I pulled her aside to ask her about the vehicle's handling and let her know about the gift the men had procured for her. Stetson sounded like he'd come over and rip my head off. She thinks he was pretty mellow, considering. How she puts up with that guy is beyond me. He wouldn't get away with half of the crap he does if he was under my command. He must be one hell of an agent, because otherwise I'd have booted him long ago.

At lunch, the guys gave her the gift, and she was overwhelmed. She has no idea how she affected my guys. Valentiner kissed her, and I thought Stetson would kill him for it. She calmed him down instantly. Taylor is right about her. She's a natural. She's great with people, and Stetson is lucky to have her around. Hopefully he'll realize it before she tells him to go to hell. The guys think they're sweet on each other, but I didn't see anything that would indicate that. She seems to like Stetson—a lot—but there's no romance between the two. And Stetson tolerates her—though he's also extremely possessive and protective of her. Taylor thinks they're in it for the long haul. I think Taylor's taken a few too many psych ops classes.

So there's the report—unofficially of course. Maybe Stetson's different when he's in the field and at top condition, but somehow I don't think so. Mrs. King seems to be able to adapt to whatever situation she finds herself in, and is a people person. She's a natural morale booster, and her enthusiasm and cheerful disposition are a joy to be around. Stetson is a jerk. What she sees in that guy, I can't figure out. Keep her happy, and she'll stick with the Agency for as long as you'll have her. If Stetson can't drive her away, nothing will.

Billy sat back and thought about the report. 'I knew Amanda was cheerful and helpful—but her ability to manage Scarecrow goes farther than I had realized. And Taylor's ideas about her being a natural for psychological operations. That I can exploit. If she is able to get people to open up—just by being herself—that's something that would indeed be very useful within this unit.'

'And her natural abilities as a morale officer. Again, we need all the good morale we can get. So I'll use her a lot in the bullpen—she has strong secretarial skills which will keep her around and working—but hopefully her natural personality will also bring some warmth and good feelings to the unit. There are so many bad things we deal with during the course of our jobs—having our own unofficial morale officer will also help.'

'Hopefully Mrs. King will want to stay around. Even if it doesn't work out with Scarecrow—though I fervently pray it does—she can still work as a civilian auxiliary doing the secretarial tasks. And if she doesn't make it as Scarecrow's partner—if she does tell him to go to hell—I'll see to it that she still has a place here—because I need someone like her—for many reasons. Welcome to the Agency, Mrs. King. I hope you'll be here for a long time to come.'


End file.
